Balance of Light and Dark
by blackstarlove19
Summary: What would you do if you knew your time was almost out? that as the seconds passed, your end draws near? How would you feel if you had it all family friends but one incident end it all? Sara Hiroshi a prodigy, who has many things to do, but little time to do it, follow her story as she joins team 7, and reconnects with her friends, protect her clan, and tries to fight off death.
1. Chapter 1

**Beta reading by nymphomaniac**

**Chapter 1**

**Third Pov**

An old man, wearing a red and white hat-with the kanji for fire on it -lifted his head to look at the young girl that stood in front of him. She had long black hair and light brown eyes with her bang hanging over her headband leaving only the symbol of the village visible. She stood in front of him awaiting his decision as he pulled the pipe out of his mouth and blew out a small puff of smoke.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" The man asked.

"Yes, I am sure." The girl replied, a smile on her lips and a hope-filled expression in her eyes.. The man before exhaled another puff of smoke, his smile noticeably growing bigger. Taking out a piece of paper, he scribbled down some information his smile never leaving his face.

"Same determination as ever, here." He handed her the paper, "This paper will have the details of your new team."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." The girl lowered her head and gave him a closed-eye smile.

"You better hurry up. You're already a bit late." She looked down at the paper.

"Nah, knowing him I think I might actually be too early." After bowing once again, she made her way out of the office.

Once the girl was no longer in sight he lifted his pipe to his lips and smiled. '_This should be interesting_' he thought to himself.

"Alright then let's introduce ourselves" said a silver-haired jounin. In front of him were his possible genin's. Sensing a familiar chakra signature, he lifted his head towards the place it was coming from.

"Yo." Greeted the girl, she then moved her attention towards the man. "Hello, Kakashi-sensei." The three genins turned around staring at the girl with curious expressions.

"Sensei?" Kakashi's eyebrow rose slightly.

"Yep." The girl replied popping the 'p' at the end. She then handed him the same paper she had received from the Hokage.

"I am the newest member to team seven." She explained that same closed-eyed smile on his lips. Kakashi was momentarily distracted by the paper, while the other three genins watched the girl wondering who she was.

"Well then, take a seat. We were just about to introduce ourselves." The girl nodded and sat down beside a curious pink-haired girl.

"Now, introduce yourself."

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Asked the girl, she had bright pink hair, green eyes, and a rather large forehead.

"You know... your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future... things like that."

"Why don't you show us what you mean?" Suggested the pink haired girl.

Kakashi shrugged but complied in her request anyways,

"Okay. My name is Kakashi Hatake." He crossed his arm over the other and closed his eyes. "My likes and dislikes... I don't feel like telling you." His eyes opened and he placed a hand on his chin and gazed up at the sky with a thoughtful expression. "My hopes and dreams for the future... I don't feel like tell you, okay your turn." He then waved towards the gaping blonde boy.

"You didn't tell us anything about yourself!" The blonde exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. "We only learned your name!"

The black haired female sighed, "Same as ever." she muttered.

"Your turn." Kakashi repeated, ignoring the blonde boy's cries.

_**Sara's Pov **_

I watched Naruto perk up it was now his turn to introduce himself. He spoke of ramen and becoming Hokage. I glanced at Sasuke, from the look he gave me it was clear he did not remember me, it was not surprising, we were very young.

"Next" Kakashi-sensei replied, gesturing towards Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are many things I dislike and I don't really like anything. What I have is not a 'dream' but an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."

It was a bit quite after his last statement. He must have been talking about Itachi.

Sasuke... you've really changed.

"Next"

"My name is Sakura Haruno..." squealing, and glancing at Sasuke she continued stuttering out her answers that weren't really answers. I guessed she was one of those fan-girls I heard about that follow Sasuke around. I giggled a bit when she stated she disliked Naruto. A light bead of sweat dropped down my forehead, he is her teammate after-all so she will have to get over her dislike of the boy. Naruto practically fell over when she said this, it looked like he had a crush on her.

Kakashi sighed, "And finally..." The three Genin glanced at me with curious eyes. I wondered if the boys would remember me after hearing my name again.

"My name is Sara Hiroshi." They didn't recognize me. "I like a lot of things, I dislike people who hurt people I care about among other things, and I have a lot of hobbies. As for my dream, I have a couple, one is to keep a certain promise I made a long time ago."

_**Third Pov**_

The three Genin stared at their fourth teammate. Like their sensei, she didn't give out a lot of information about herself.

_'Her name sounds familiar.'_ thought Naruto.

_'I feel like I've seen her before.'_ thought Sasuke.

'_I don't really care who she is, as long as she stays away from my Sasuke-kun._' Sakura thought.

'_So she's actually doing this by choice._' Thought Kakashi.

Kakashi clapped his hands together, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Okay, tomorrow morning we will meet at the training field for some training."

"Didn't we do enough training at the academy." Said Sakura, Naruto nodded in agreement.

"This isn't your normal academy training." He began to chuckle.

"Of all the graduates only nine or ten will become Genins. The rest will be send back to the academy."

The Genin looked shocked. Sara however, just smiled keeping a calm expression.

"THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE GRADUATION EXAM?!" Naruto shouted.

"That was to pick candidates who had the possibility to become Genins. Anyway, tomorrow bring all your shinobi tools. The details are on this paper." He said handing each of them a sheet of paper

"Oh and skip breakfast or you will puke" And with that he disappeared leaving three very freaked out Genin's and one calm one.

_**Sara's Pov**_

I woke up the next day at five, the meeting with Kakashi was supposed to be at five-thirty, but knowing him he would probably be late, so I took my time getting ready.

After taking a shower and putting on my ninja outfit, I headed downstairs and ate breakfast ignoring Kakashi's warning.

_**Seven O'Clock**_

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura yelled simultaneously.

"Calm down, I think you broke an eardrum." I replied, my usual smile on my face. Leaving them their with gaping mouths, I sat down at the foot of a tree and gazed up at the clouds.

About half an hour later Kakashi finally arrived.

"Hi guys!" He greeted cheerfully, a hand up to greet them.

"You're late sensei!" Sakura shouted

"Yeah! You were 'spose to be here two hours ago!" Naruto cried angrily. Sasuke just keep on watching, while I chuckled quietly to myself.

Kakashi raisesed his hands in defense.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way here" he explained with a smile. The glares directed at him did not waver.

_'Same as always, that's pretty much a classic excuse by now.'_ I thought to myself.

"What a lame excuse" Naruto scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Kakashi put an alarm clock on a tree stump.

"This alarm is set for 12:00" he explained. Sakura and Naruto watched him curiously, Sasuke let out a bored sigh, and I covered my emotions with a small smile.

Pulling out three bells from his pocket he continued, "I have here three bells. Your task is simple, all you have to do is take them from me. For those who don't have the bell by twelve, you will be tied to a tree stump with no lunch. I will then eat mine in front of you." His expression was cheerful. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke groan. Luckily, I ate a light smirk appeared on my face which I quickly covered with my regular smile.

I think Kakashi noticed anyways.

"You only need to get one bell each. As you can see there are only three bells, meaning that one of you will not get one. That person will be tied to a stump and will fail the test which results in you being sent back to the academy."

Sakura gasped, Naruto clenched his fists, Sasuke looked indifferent, and I continued smiling.

"You may use any weapon you'd like to for this test, as long as you come at me with the intent to kill. If you do not, you will not pass."

"But won't you be in danger sensei?" Sakura inquired, worry filled her eyes and I shook my head. She should be worried for herself. He is a Jounin after all, but I figured he wouldn't go too hard on them.

Kakashi smiled at her, "I will be fi-"

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled, interrupting him. "I mean, when we first met you, you couldn't even dodge a black-bored eraser Kakashi-sensei! We're going to kill you!"

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them, dead last." He taunted. "So! Ignore Mr. dead last, and begin when I say-"

Naruto launched himself towards Kakashi, a kunai in hand. Before he could even move, Kakashi grabbed his wrist and flipped him around so Naruto's own kunai was now in line with Naruto's head.

"Don't be in such a hurry Naruto." He rolled his eyes. "I didn't even say start yet." Both Sakura and Sasuke looked impressed, they really have no idea what he can do.

"Although," Kakashi said coolly, "It seems as if you're ready to come at me with the intent to kill." He smiled one of those closed-eyed smiles, "I beginning to like you guys. Alright then! Let's get this started."

"Ready?"

"Start!"


	2. Chapter 2

Beta reading by nymphomaniac

Balance of Light and Dark: Chapter Two

**Sara Pov**

_"START"_

We all shot up into the air and in different directions. I took cover in a tree and peered between the leaves only to see Naruto standing there on his own.

_No offense but, is he really that stupid?_

"You and me Kakashi-sensei, right now. Fair and square! Let's go!" He shouted at the Jounin.

"You know, compared to the others," Kakashi began. "You're a bit... weird." Naruto frowned.

"Oh yeah?" He challenged. "The only thing weird around here is your haircut!" I held in a chuckle, I didn't want to give away my location.

Suddenly, Naruto charged towards Kakashi. The Jounin reached for his weapon's pouch which had Naruto skidding to a halt. He leaped back and watched. Kakashi shifted his gaze to the sky,

"Shinobi battle techniques part one: Taijutsu, the physical part." Announced Kakashi, he pulled out a small book from his pouch. A mischievous glint passed through his one visible eye. I looked closer and sweat-dropped once I read the title:_ Make Out Paradise._

_I can't believe he still read that thing. Pervert._

"W-what?" Naruto gawked, his confusion apparent on his face.

"What are you waiting for?" Kakashi asked calmly. "Make your move already."

"But, I mean, uh, why are you reading that book now?" asked Naruto. _He's really trying to lower their confidence isn't he_.

"Why?" Kakashi echoed, his eye not leaving his book, "To find out what happens in the story of course! Don't worry about it though, with your weak attacks it doesn't matter if I'm reading or… whatever." Clenching his fist, Naruto growled in anger.

"I'm going to crush you Kakashi-sensei!" He yelled. He ran towards Kakashi ready to attack. Naruto threw a punch at the Jounin's face, the man blocked the punch with his palm. He then swung his knee at the man's head, Kakashi just ducked. His eye still never moved from pages of the book.

"Now you're mine!" Shouted Naruto, he threw another punch at Kakashi's head.

_He's too slow, I'd better be ready soon._

Pausing-mid punch, Naruto looked around looking for the now nonexistent Kakashi.

"Don't let your enemy get behind you, baka." said Kakashi from directly behind the blonde boy. The boy jumped forward in surprise._ Is that a tiger seal?_

"Naruto!" A feminine voice called out. "Get out of there quick! He's going to destroy you!"

I frowned, I was sure he wouldn't do something like that, this is just training. _He would really hurt him... would he?_

"Too late! Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu!" Kakashi shouted and jabbed two of his fingers up Naruto's butt. "A thousand years of death!" The blonde shot forward through the trees, screaming the whole way.

Silence...

_Really sensei?_

A splash was heard as Naruto landed in the nearby river. Kakashi just continued fiddling with his perverted book seemingly not effected by what had happened.

Two Shruiken were thrown out from the water, they spun through the air and headed straight towards Kakashi-sensei. He casually caught them, and spun them around his fingers.

_Huh, I see, so that's Naruto's plan. It won't work but nevertheless, from what I've seen so far from him, it's good to see he has a plan._

I watched as Naruto crawled out from the river.

"What are you doing now?" Kakashi asked tauntingly. "You know you won't get any lunch unless you can grab a bell by noon."

"Yeah, yeah! I know, you told us that already!" whined Naruto.

"You look kind of, wobbly for someone who says he's going to become the Hokage one day." Kakashi informed him, Naruto's stomach rumbled.

"Well you told us not to eat breakfast!" He retorted angrily. "How do you expect me to fight when I'm starving to death?!" He began waving his arms wildly in the air. "You just caught me off guard! That's all, believe it!"

_I am not one to judge but, how did Naruto graduate? I mean a ninja is someone that endures not someone who loses his cool in battle._

When I moved my attention back to the fight, I saw shadow clones leaping out of the water all of them aimed for Kakashi.

_So he is putting his plan to action._ Huh... I couldn't help but but wonder where Naruto learned such a jutsu.

"Ha! You were over confident sensei!" Naruto yelled. "That's why you weren't ready for a shadow clone attack, my best jutsu!" Kakashi peered up at him and over his shoulder.

"Great technique Naruto" Kakashi complimented. "But I don't think you can maintain it for a long time. You talk like you're the best, but you're still the worst Naruto! You can't beat me with this jutsu" His eyes suddenly became wide.

_Just like I thought,_ _Naruto thought he could outsmart Kakashi with such a strategy, but on someone like Kakashi it won't work._

"What?! He got me from behind?!" Kakashi exclaimed, looking over his shoulder at the Naruto holding onto his back. The real Naruto chuckled mischievously.

"I thought you said never to let your enemies get behind you!" He taunted, using Kakashi's earlier words against him. "It was good advice Kakashi-sensei, believe it! I had one of my clones sneak up behind you, real quiet!" He aimed another punch for Kakashi's face.

"You and those bells are mine!" He roared. His punch hit its target, but it was not Kakashi that he hit. Instead, Kakashi had disappeared and in his place was his own clone.

"Huh?!" Naruto cried confused. "Wait! You're Kakashi-sensei, aren't you?!" He shouted while pointing at his clone. "You transformed into me using a jutsu!" Another shouted, and the small crowd of Naruto's all began beating the crap out of each other. I sweat dropped.

Slapping his forehead, Naruto - after finally realizing he could - simply released the jutsu forcing all of his clones to disappear. He stood in the middle of the field, his own face was bruised, and Kakashi was no where to be found.

I sighed as I stared at what he was doing. _He wasn't even thinking it thorough. _

He suddenly perked up at the discovery of something lying on the ground. He made his way to the bottom of a nearby tree and stared down at the object.

"He must have dropped a bell when I attacked him!" Naruto shouted happily. As he reached down to pick up the bell, a rope wrapped itself around his ankle and pulled him up into the tree. Due to the force of the rope, the bell fell out of his hand.

I face-palmed, _again how did he become a ninja exactly?_

Kakashi then appeared out of nowhere - like he always did - and proceeded to walk over towards the dropped bell. Picking it up, he peered over at the struggling Naruto.

Kakashi suddenly appears out of nowhere, like usually, and strides over to the dropped bell. He sighs picking the item up, before peering up at the struggling Naruto.

"Naruto, think before you use a jutsu!" he advised "or else your opponent might use it against you" Kakashi flicked the bell up in the air and caught it.

"Oh and another thing" he added, with a mocking undertone. "If the bait is obvious, don't take it"

"A ninja must be able to see through deception" he continued, as Naruto growled and struggled furiously in the air, waving his arms around.

"I! Get! It!" he choked out, Kakashi only shook his head.

"Uh, I'm telling you this because you _don't_ get it." the Jounin replied "You _think_ you get it, which isn't actually the same as getting it. Get it?" he questioned.

Suddenly, a barrage of shuriken were thrown towards the seemingly unsuspecting Kakashi.

"Aaargghh! Are you out of your mind Sasuke?!" Naruto yelled, looking up into the trees. "You went way too far!"

I sighed. If only it was that easy. As Kakashi turned into a log, I started to put my plan into action. Making a hand seal, I created three shadow clones.

"Each one go to one of the three, help them and try to convince them to work together, I will handle Kakashi, report as fast as possible" I instructed the three shadow clones, they nodded and each headed off in a different direction.

Before I could move towards Kakshi's location, I heard Sakura scream.

* * *

_With the first clone_

* * *

I made my way towards Naruto's location. He had just finished cutting through the rope around his ankle. He flipped forward and landed on the ground only, for another hidden rope to tighten around his ankle and rip him back up into the air.

"Dammit!" he screamed and thrashed his arms around in annoyance. "I fell for it again!"

I walked towards him with my usual smile on my face then proceeded to throw a shuriken at the rope.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah, thanks for the help!" He replied with a grin.

"how about we work together to get those bells?" I suggested.

"Nah, I am going to get them myself."

"But-" before I can object, he leaped into the air leaving me standing there by myself.

_Oh well, there's nothing I can do now._ I disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

_with the second clone_

* * *

I arrived to find Sakura unconscious and on the ground. Approaching her, I noticed she was under a Genjutsu and, making a few hand signs, I released her from it. Slowly, she opened her eyes with a dazed expression. A second latter, she jumped up and screamed out Sasuke's name.

"Calm down, it was a Genjutsu." I explained trying to calm her down. "How would you like to work together to get those bells?"

"No, I am going to work with Sasuke-kun." She then left, leaving me, once again, by myself.

"What exactly did they teach them in the academy?" I muttered to myself then released the jutsu disappearing in a puff of smoke.

* * *

_3rd Clone Pov_

* * *

I was hidding in a bush, just watching. Sasuke stood by himself, not too far from Kakashi.

"I'm not like the others," He began. _He has become so arrogant. Did it really affect him that much?_

"Say that after you get one of these bells." Kakashi taunted, he was suddenly leaning against a tree behind Sasuke. After staring at each other _for what I thought felt like forever_, Sasuke bent down and chucked some shuriken at Kakshi, who easily dodged them.

"There's no point in using normal attacks like that Sasuke." Kakashi reminded him all the while shaking his head. Sasuke smirked and threw a kunai at a rope which was hidden in a nearby tree branch.

Seeing this, Kakashi leaped away just as a series of kunai were shot into the bark.

I couldn't say I was not impressed, he had definitely gotten better._ But was he good enough?_

Sasuke appeared from behind Kakashi and swung his foot at his face. The silver-haired Jounin spun around and blocked the kick with his forearms. He grabbed Sasuke's ankle, who quickly threw a punch over his shoulder. Kakashi blocked the punch and grabbed his fists. Sasuke swung his knee around, aiming for Kakashi's head, but the attack was blocked by Kakashi's arm.

I see Sasuke reaching for the bell, but before he could fully grasp it, Kakashi shoved him away. The bells jingled lightly.

"Well you are different from the other two, I'll grant you that." Kakashi stated.

Making a series of hand signs, he suddenly released a large ball of fire in the direction of Kakashi. Kakashi looked surprised, but he quickly disappeared and hopped out of the way.

After the smoke disappeared Sasuke realized the lack of a body. His expression revealed his shock and he began to wildly look around in all directions. A hand shot out of the ground below Sasuke and grabbed hold of his ankle. Sasuke looked panicked and he was abruptly pulled underground the only thing visible being his head.

"I was right under your feet." Kakashi explained gleefully. He crouched down so he was eye level with Sasuke. "Earth style: hunter hunter jutsu." Sasuke began to struggle.

"Can't move huh?" taunted Kakashi. "Well that was Ninjutsu the third shinobi battle skill. You have talent, and you were right. You are different from the other two. But different is not always better." He then got up and onto his feet. "Now I better go, there is still one left." He walked away, when he was finally out of sight I got out of my hiding spot.

"Need help?" I asked, my usual smile in place. He just grunted.

I sighed then forced my chakra into my hands and begin to widen the hole around him so he could inch his way out.

"Want to work together to get the bells?"

"No" He then leaped out of view.

I sighed before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

_Sara's point of view_

* * *

I was waiting in a clearing when I received the memories of my clones. I sighed a the team's refusal to assist me.

I made a hand seal, "Shadow clone jutsu."

Sensing Kakashi, I made another series of hand seals, "Light reflection jutsu." With this jutsu I was able to hide my chakra, this made it so Kakashi could neither sense my chakra or find my location.

Kakashi jumped out from the trees and stood across my clone.

"So are you actually going to go through with this?" He asked my clone.

"Yep. But don't worry sensei, I plan on holding back, unless it is needed. I am trying to hide my identity after all, so shall we?" My clone then charged at Kakashi, I stayed in my spot and waited for the opening.

She jumped into the air and brought her leg down, aiming for his head, he dodged, and she then followed with a punch which he was able to block. He threw a punch of his own, but she flipped backwards and landed on her feet.

Making familiar hand signs, she blew out a large ball of fire towards the man. I saw my chance and when he jumped backwards to avoid the fireball, I grabbed the three bells and replaced them with an illusion.

The alarm then began to ring signaling the end of training. Just in time.

He stopped the attack and my clone followed him back to the meeting spot. I decided to stay hidden anyways.

* * *

_Kakashi's point of view_

* * *

"Uh oh, stomachs are growling" I said, with mock concern. Naruto was tied the middle post, Sakura and Sasuke were sitting on either side of him, and Sara stood by Sakura.

"Sensei." I looked over in Sara's direction. She smiled at me then disappeared into a cloud of smoke. She then reappeared from the bushes next to Sasuke, in her hand were three bells.

My visible eye widened. _I can't believe I fell for that trick again._

Everybody looked up at her in shock, probably wondering how she did it.

I looked down at the three bells tied to my belt, they disappear in a blur.

"So you got the three bells." I sighed.

_I should have known not to underestimate her._

* * *

_point of view change_

* * *

"Yup" Sara said popping the 'p'. The three Genin watched her with wide eyes.

"So the question is, who gets the bells?" asked Kakashi with a smirk. He already knew what she would do, he'd known her for three years now.

She handed the bells over to her three teammates.

"Are you sure?" I mean you must have worked hard for them." Asked Sakura, her face mixed with shock and concern. she was giving them the bells, even though she had bluntly refused to help earlier.

"No problem Sakura, I will be fine."

"alright then." Kakashi clapped his hands, gaining the Genin's attention. "That means the three of you shouldn't go back to the academy." He continued with a closed-eye smile. "The three of you, are being dropped from the program permanently."

The three Genin all glared in the direction of Kakashi, all unbelieving what they were hearing. Even Sara glared at the man, she wasn't exactly sure what was going through his mind.

"You can't drop us from the program!" Objected Naruto, he began kicking his feet wildly, his way of throwing a tantrum. "That means we can never become ninja!"

"You just said that if we didn't get a bell, we'd get sent back to the academy! You can't just change your mind and drop us! Even if we didn't get the bells ourselves!"

"Well Sara here passes, because unlike you she didn't think like little kids. You're not ninja, you're just little brats." Kakashi replied calmly his hand placed on his hips. Sasuke growled dangerously and threw himself towards Kakashi who grabbed him and threw him on the ground.

"You just think it's all about you." Kakashi admonished lowly, he sat himself on Sasuke's back, keeping the boy pinned.

"Let go of Sasuke! He's not a bug! You can't just squash him like that!" Sakura screamed, tears beginning to pour from her eyes.

* * *

_Sara's point of view_

* * *

"You don't know what it really means to be a ninja!" barked Kakashi "you think it's just a game huh? Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that at all?"

I thought about it and the realization hit me. _So that's it, that's the answer to the test._

Naruto, Sakura, and Ssuke all looked thoughtful but still confused.

Urgh, I don't know what you mean Kakashi-sensei." Sakura admitted.

"I mean you never realized what this exercise was all about. That's what determines whether you pass or fail." Kakashi explained darkly.

"well I kinda wanted to ask you about that from the beginning." Sakura voiced quietly.

"Use your head!" Snarled Kakashi.

Naruto looked as if his head was about to explode.

"Arrrrgggggghhh! I don't know!" he yelled. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at them.

"Teamwork." I voiced aloud. They all turned their heads in my direction then back to Kakashi.

"Exactly." He confirmed while shaking his head, he'd probably wanted the others to get it for themselves.

"Well it's too late now, but if you had accepted Sara's offer when she asked you to work together you might have gotten the bells yourselves." Informed Kakashi, he shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "well it's over anyways."

"Wait a minute!" Sakura cried. "There were four of us and only three bells! Even if we did work together, only one of us would have passed."

"Exactly." said Kakashi pointedly, he looked rather annoyed. "I purposely pitted you against each other to see if you would be able to put your teammates ahead of yourselves. Genin like you should have a natural feel for teamwork! But other than Sara, the the though didn't even cross your minds!"

"Sakura! You were so obsessed with following Sasuke, who was gone, when Naruto was right in front of you! And you did nothing at all to help him!" He accused. She blushed and hung her head in shame.

"Naruto! You tried to do everything and I do mean everything on your own! Why not just ask your teammates for help?" He asked making sure Naruto too hung his head in shame. He then placed his foot on Sasuke's head.

"And you Sasuke, thought that you were so much better than the others, that they were worthless! Arrogance!"

"Even when Sara offered the idea you all refused it without much as thinking about it! Ninja go on missions in squads. Of course individual skills are important, but teamwork is the key! When a ninja puts him or herself before the squad, it can lead to failure, or even death!"

He pulled out a kunai and held it up to Sasuke's neck.

"For example, Sara!" He barked at me, "Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!"

Sakura gasped and beads of sweat ran down Naruto's face.

"That's what can happen on a mission." Kakashi continued, spinning the kunai around his finger. "The enemy takes a hostage; you've got an impossible choice to make, and someone ends up dead." Kakashi stood up, getting off Sasuke in the process.

"On every mission, your life is on the line." He made his way over to the gray stone behind him.

I moved my gaze to the ground, clenching my fists and holding in tears. _Their names are on that stone._

"Did you guys look at this stone and the names engraved on it? They are all the names of ninja who are heroes and who are honored in our village." Naruto's eyes lit up.

"I've decided! I want my name on that stone!" Sakura threw him a look.

"No you don't baka." She replied rudely, making Naruto pout.

"Why not?"

"Because all those people were K.I.A: _Killed in Action_ Naruto." I informed him, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible.

Naruto blinked, his eyes widened. He didn't look quite as excited anymore. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, this is a memorial stone, the names of all my closest friends are engraved here." He glanced at us over his shoulder, I could no longer keep my tears from falling.

"Okay, I'm going to give you guys one more chance." He said with a slight scowl. "But I'm going to make it much harder than before, you'll have three hours to get a bell, so eat your lunch now, to build up your strength. But don't let Naruto have any!" He demanded. "That's what he gets for cheating earlier. And if any of you try to feed him you will immediately fail." He glared down at us.

"I make the rules, you follow them. Got it?" He growled. The others gulped nervously and nodded their heads.

"Sara." He turned his head towards me. "You already passed if you want to go."

"I am going to stay and help them." He nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

We all begin to help ourselves to the food Kakashi left with us.

"Sara," Sakura called to me. "Why did you give us the bells earlier? And why did you even stay to help us?"

"That's what teammates do for each other I guess." I replied simply with my now fully restored smile on my face.

I was getting ready to eat some rice when Naruto's stomach growled loudly. We all stopped and glanced up at him.

"This is no big deal!" He cried. "I can go without eating for ages! Believe it!" His stomach growled again.

I sighed and offered him my food. "Here you go."

"I already ate breakfast this morning. I'm all good to go." I told him with a closed-eyes smile.

Sasuke then offered him his food as well.

"You're going to need all your strength if we're going to beat Kakashi-sensei as a team." He said coolly. Sakura watched us all before offering to feed Naruto.

"Aww you guys," He sniffled.

Suddenly, dark clouds filled the sky and a huge wave of smoke appeared out of nowhere. Sasuke and Sakura jumped up. I just stayed where I was having sensed Kakashi's chakra. He appeared with a furious expression on his face.

"You guys broke the rules! I hope you're ready for your punishment!" He drawled out ominously. "Any last words?" Sakura cowered on the ground, covering her head with her arms.

"You said..." whispered Naruto

"Yes?" Kakashi encouraged.

"You said that we were a team! And that we should look out for each other! That's why they offe-"

"We're all on this team baka and we'll all take the punishment together!" exclaimed Sasuke. Sakura stood up from the ground.

"Y-yeah!" she cried. "The four of us are one!"

"The four of you are one? That's you excuse?!" Kakashi taunted and as he stepped towards us.

"Hm, you…pass!" he said sweetly, with a closed eye smile. I sighed; he just couldn't resist almost giving them heart attacks.

"Huh?" Sakura and Naruto both mumbled with confused expressions.

"You. Pass" Kakashi repeated, still smiling.

"How did we pass?" asked Sakura.

"Well, you're the first squad that has passed this test. All the others just blindly followed my orders, they couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, and that is true. But" Kakashi paused and moved his gaze towards us. "those who abandon their friends, are worse than scum"

"So anyway, you all passed. Squad seven starts its first mission, tomorrow!" Kakashi exclaimed, giving us all a thumbs up.

"Yes!" Sakura squealed excitedly. Sasuke just smirked to himself.

"Yeah! I did it I did it I did it! I'm a ninja" Naruto yelled, I put on an actual smile, and looked up at the sky.

"Okay, let's go home now" Kakashi called over his shoulder. We all followed him.

_I guess this is my new team, maybe the boys will remember me from back then, I will just have to wait and see._


	3. Chapter 3

Beta reading by nymphomaniac

Balance of Light and Dark: Chapter 3

* * *

Sara Pov

* * *

"Sasuke here, I'm at point B."

"This is Sakura, and I'm at point C."

"Naruto! And I'm at point A! Believe it!"

"Sara here too, I'm at point D."

"Naruto you're late. Anyways, team sev- hmm?" Kakashi stopped himself mid-sentence.

"Our target has moved!" Shouted Kakashi. "Follow it!" We all chased after it, jumping from tree to tree.

"It's over there~!" Naruto whispered loudly. We turned our attention to him, he was pointing at some rustling bushes. I hid in a high branch while Sakura and Sasuke both peered over at the target from behind some trees.

"What is everyone's distance from the target?" Kakashi asked, his voice crackling over the wireless earpiece.

"Five meters." Naruto replied, his focus on the target. "I'm ready, just give me the signal!"

Sasuke scanned the area from his hiding spot behind a tree.

"Yeah, I'm ready too"

"So am I" Sakura added.

"Same here" I said, looking down from the high branch I was perched on.

"Ready?...go!" Ordered Kakashi. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all jumped towards the target, I sat down on the high branch I was in. Naruto somehow managed to grab onto the small brown cat before it could run away.

"I got it! I got it!" he cried victoriously. The cat began yowling and wiggling in Naruto's vice-like grip. Turning around, it hissed and began clawing at his face.

"Can you verify it by a red ribbon on its right ear?" Kakashi asked Sasuke. I hopped down from my tree branch.

"Affirmative, we've got a positive ID" Sasuke replied, ignoring the pain-filled shrieks from Naruto.

"Excellent. Tora, the lost pet, has been captured. Mission accomplished team 7!" Kakashi narrated approvingly.

"Can't we get a better mission?!" Naruto shouted into the ear piece, his loud voice practically bursting everyone's ear drums. "I hate cats!" Sakura then punched Naruto upside the head.

"Don't yell into it you idiot!" she screamed, not noticing she had also just screamed into the ear piece.

"Calm down Sakura you just screamed into our ears too." I sighed.

"Huh, sorry I didn't mean to" she apologized quietly.

* * *

"Oohhhhhh! My poor little Tora!" A rather heavy-set lady shouted while rubbing her face against her screeching cat. "I was so worried about you! Yes I was!" She cooed.

We all watched solemnly, everyone but Naruto sweat-dropping. That poor cat, someone should report this lady to animal control.

"Haha! Stupid Cat! He deserves to be squashed!" Naruto laughed, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Sakura.

"Well." She sighed and looked back at the cat, "I guess it's no wonder he ran away…"

"Now then!" The Hokag spoke up from his desk. "There are a few different missions that team seven could do. Such as babysitting the chief counselor's three-year old, helping his wife do the shopping, digging up potatoes in the-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Naruto shouted in frustration.

"I wanna go on a real mission old man!" Naruto shouted in his face. "Something challenging and exciting, not this little kid crap!"

Personally I disagreed, I wanted to keep doing D-rank missions, they were a lot more relaxing than the other missions. I have had my share of them before joining the team and they were not as easy as Naruto made them out to be.

Kakashi sighed, but I could tell that he - including both Sasuke and Sakura - agreed with Naruto.

Iruka rose from his spot next to the Hokage, he slammed his hand down on the desk in front of him.

"How dare you?!" He roared. "You're all just brand new Genin with no real experience at all!" _Looks like he forgot about me._

"Like everybody else you will start with simple missions to develop your skills!" Naruto's blue eyes widened.

"Are you serious?! Naruto exclaimed. "These aren't missions! It's just babysitting and stupid- Aaargh!" He screeched and finally Kakashi had enough and punched the top of his head, knocking Naruto to the floor.

"Will you put a lid on it already." Kakashi scolded Naruto.

"Naruto." The Hokage called out. Naruto just ignored him and rubbed his head, while muttering angrily to himself. "It would seem that you do not understand the tasks that you have been given." My attention moved from the Hokage's explanation of ranks, to Naruto who began talking about Ramen.

"Silence." The Hokage shouted, capturing our attention.

"Oh, sorry." He apologized scratching the back of his neck with a sweat-drop. I snorted at Kakashi's apology. The Hokage had been yelling at the genin. Kakashi's apology only helped in giving away the fact he too had not been listening.

"Gah! You always lecture me, like you're my grandfather or something!" Naruto complained. "But I'm not that little brat who used to pull pranks all the time! I'm a ninja now, and I want a ninja mission!" With that, he crossed his arms and turned away, a pout on his lips. Kakashi's shoulder dropped and he realized the trouble he was probably going to be in.

"I'm definitely going to hear about this later." He mumbled wearily.

Iruka and the Hokage both chuckled in amusement, their attention focused on the pouting blonde before them.

I mentally pouted,_ looks like we won't be getting anymore relaxing D-rank missions._

"So Naruto wants a real mission." The Hokage voiced, amusement apparent in his voice. "'He wants to show us that he is a real ninja and not a brat but a former brat. Very well then."

The three genin looked up in surprise.

"Since you are so determined to have a real mission, I am going to give you a C-rank mission instead of a D-rank. You will be bodyguards on a journey." Naruto turned around, grinning excitedly.

"Really?!" He shouted happily, "Yess!" He began to scoot forward, still sitting in a criss-cross position "Who are we guarding? A princess? An important counselor?!" The Hokage snorted with amusement.

"Don't be so impatient. You can meet him now." He motioned towards the closed door. "Send in our visitor!"

We all turned our heads in said direction, the door slid open to reveal what looked to me like a drunk old man.

_Great so he is a drunk, this mission just screams relaxing. Note the sarcasm._

(**Comment**: Just also reminding you I italicized some things to note the difference from her narrating and thoughts.)

"What the? A bunch of little snot-nosed kids?!" He exclaimed, barely a minute and I already hated the client. If anything, I really hated being underestimated just because of my age.

The man took a sip from his bottle - it smelled like sake - as Naruto stood up, giving the man a confused expression.

"And you, the tiny one with the stupid looking face. You really expect me to believe that you are a ninja?" The man questioned undoubtedly.

Naruto laughed obnoxiously, "Who's the tiny little guy with the stupid face?" He asked in between laughs. Sasuke, Sakura, and I all sent him pointed looks and lined up beside him. Sasuke was the tallest, followed by both Sakura and I - who both stood at the same height - and finally Naruto. The blonde paused his laughter, realization drawn on his face.

"I'll demolish you!" Naruto shouted and pounced forward before Kakashi snatched the back of his jacket, keeping him in place.

"You can not demolish the client Naruto." Kakashi informed him. "What's the point in that?" Our client just stared at us with a disapproving expression.

"I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder, and I must return to my land. I am building a bridge there that will change our world, and I expect you to protect me even if it means your lives!"

"Alright, we will meet you at the front gate in an hour." Kakashi informed everyone. "Go and get your stuff ready, and make sure you are not late."

"Should you really be the one to tell us that Kakashi-sense?" Sakura questioned, a tic mark forming on her forehead.

I held back a chuckle.

* * *

We were all heading down the street each towards our own homes. I could have teleported, but decided against it since it was a jounin technique.

"Saaaaasuuukke-Kun~!" A feminine voice screeched from behind us. We all turned around to spot a young girl with long blonde hair, tied up in a ponytail. She darted down the street in our direction and promptly jumped towards Sasuke, holding him in a tight hug.

Sasuke had an annoyed expression. Next to him, Sakura had an anime tic mark on her forehead.

"Ino-pig! Leave my Sasuke-kun alone!" Sakura shouted at the blonde female.

"What a drag." I turned around and spotted a guy with his hair tied into a pineapple like ponytail, his face held a lazy expression. Next to him was a big-boned boy with his headband tied in a rather odd fashion. _Wait is tha-_

"Guys I will see you at the gates, I just remembered something I have to do." I told my team then ran down the street, once I was out of view I used the body flicker technique to get to my house.

_I wasn't ready to see the two of them just yet._

* * *

_Shikamaru_

* * *

"Guys I will see you at the gates, I just remembered something I have to do." said a girl with long black hair. She then ran off in another direction.

_She looks kind of familiar._

"who was that?" Ino asked, no longer clinging to Sasuke

"She's our fourth team member, Sara Hiroshi." Answered Sakura

_Her name sounds familiar too._

* * *

_Sara_

* * *

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, taking in my full appearance. I was wearing a dark blue v-neck top with short sleeves, a silver cloth tied around from beneath my chest to my waist, and a long dark blue skirt with a high slit revealing silver spandex shorts which reached just above my knee. Around my visible thigh was a black hostler, on my feet were standard blue ninja sandals, and finally my forehead protector was tied around my forehead hidden beneath my bangs. My black hair just reached my waist, and around my neck was a dark blue choker with my clan symbol dangling from it.

I picked up my katana, and strapped it diagonally on my back. It could blow my cover since it was too advanced for most Genin, but I never left the village with out it. It held too much sentimental value, along with my neck piece.

Strapping a belt around my waist, I checked it once again to find a few shuriken and, some senbon needles. I stuck a couple of kunai and a few more shuriken into my hostler.

Once I was ready, I used the body flicker technique to scan over the village, and once I was done I headed towards the gates to meet up with my team.

* * *

"Alright! Naruto exclaimed, his arms high in the air. Sakura placed a hand on her hip and stared at him,

"What are you so excited for Naruto?" She questioned, her eyebrows raised.

"Because Sakura-Chan! We're finally going on a real mission! plus, I've never been outside the village before!" He laughed and began frantically glancing around his excitement apparent in his blue eyes.

I zoned out, my mind thinking about my almost-encounter with those two back then.

_Shikamaru and Chouji_.

I didn't know if they'd even remember me. Sasuke and Naruto don't.

I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts from someone calling my name.

"Sara!" Kakashi called, "Let's go." I notice they've already gathered and followed after them.

* * *

"Hey, Mr. Tazuna?" asked Sakura

"What?"

"You're from the land of waves, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?" He replied with a rude undertone. Sakura sighed then turned towards Kakashi instead.

"Are there ninja in the land of waves Kakashi-sensei?" He shakes his head in response.

My concentration is snatched away from the rest of their conversation when I sensed two strong chakra signatures a few miles ahead. I would say they were at at least two chunin.

When I looked up at Kakashi, he was telling Sakura how she shouldn't be worried about running into any enemy ninja's on this mission. _Wrong._

I glanced over towards Tazuna, his eyes began to dart around, it was as if he was looking for something. From the looks of his panicked expression, it wasn't anything good.

_Are those ninja after him? If they are than this wouldn't be classified as a C-rank mission._

As we continued on, I noticed an oddly placed puddle coming up ahead, the two chakra signatures that it was admitting vanished. _They hid their chakra signatures._

I walked up next to Kakashi and nudge him. "Sensei." I muttered, but only loud enough for him to hear me.

"I know." Was his only reply. I nodded and walked ahead to catch up with the others.

I felt the two ninja's move and turned around to spot them leaping towards Kakashi.

"What?!" Kakashi exclaimed. Two large chains wrapped themselves around his torso, the two ends of the chain were attached to one of the arms of the two ninjas.

"Huh?!"

"What the?"

"Do it!" The first ninja commanded. They both yanked on their chain, crushing Kakashi in the process. His body was easily shredded to pieces, the blades on the chain sharp enough to easily rip through his flesh. Sakura backed away and began to scream.

"K-kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, his face shocked.

Sasuke's face held a grim scowl, his eyes darted between the two ninja. My eye's remained stationed on them both and my smile fell from it's place and was covered by an emotionless mask.

The two ninja suddenly appeared directly behind Naruto, both chuckling evilly.

"Now it's your turn." The second one stated and they both ran towards Naruto with their chains ready to attack.

_I knew we should have stuck with the D-rank missions._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sara Pov

I look where Kakashi once stood noticing the log pieces; I refocus on the two ninja to see one leaping for Naruto who was standing frozen in his place.

When the ninja is just about to hit Naruto, I kick him in the stomach sending him crashing into a tree, but he still managed to scratch Naruto.

I look at the other ninja to see Sasuke has stopped him, bounding him to a tree; the ninja gets rid of his claw, and then both ninja starts heading for Tazuna, Sakura leaps in front of him, kunai in hand.

Just when I was about to leap for them, Kakashi-sensei stops them, and holds them in a headlock.

Naruto blinks, and stares at Kakashi.

"Kakashi sensei!" Sakura cries happily, as Kakashi gazes calmly at us all.

"Huh?" Naruto says looking confused as he glances around. "But he was…ooohh!" Realization hits the blonde, as he glances at where 'Kakashi' was torn apart, only to see a pile of logs.

"Naruto, sorry for not helping you right away" Kakashi says smartly, turning to face the blue eyed boy. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt, I just didn't think that you'd freeze up like that"

As Naruto hangs his head in shame, I see Tazuna sigh with relief and I can't help scowling. This guy has some explaining to do.

"Good job Sasuke, Sara, you too Sakura" Kakashi compliments.

"Hey!" Sasuke calls to Naruto, making the blonde pause for a moment.

Naruto turns to face Sasuke.

"You're not hurt are ya?" Sasuke asks mockingly, lips pulling up into a smirk "Scaredy cat!"

Naruto growls at him, hands balling into fists.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouts angrily, I move between him and Sasuke.

"Naruto, stop moving ok" I tell him quietly.

"Why?" he asks dumbly.

"Because their claws were laced with poison Naruto" Kakashi answers him.

"We have to open the wound to get it out, moving around will make it spread quicker" I tell him, gaining shocked look from the three genins, right they don't know that I know medical Ninjutsu.

Naruto turns his gaze from me, and stares down at his scratched hand worriedly, his face turning a little pale.

"Oh, and by the way, Mr. Tazuna" Kakashi says, turning to face the man and making him jump.

"Uhh, yeah…what?" he replies, sounding a little worried.

"We need to have a little talk"

We stand and stare at the two ninja who attacked us, now tied to a tree.

"They're chunin from the village hidden in the mist" Kakashi announces, having checked the symbols on their headbands. "They specialize in relentless attack. They've been taught to keep fighting, no matter what the sacrifice may be"

So much for a relaxing rookie Genin life.

"How did you know about our ambush?" one of the mist ninja questions us.

"On a sunny day like this when it hasn't rained in days. A puddle shouldn't exist" Kakashi concluded. I knew a few miles back, but no one needs to know that.

Tazuna suddenly turns to Kakashi "Hey, why'd you leave all the fighting to these little Genin?"

"I could have taken them out quickly" Kakashi states thoughtfully, "But then I wouldn't have learned anything. I had to find out who their real target was and what they were after."

"What are you getting at?" he spits, to which Kakashi turns to him coolly.

"I wanted to know if they were attacking us or you" Kakashi explains pointedly, making Tazuna sweat drop.

"When you put in your request to the leaf village" Kakashi continues, looking hard at Tazuna "you just asked for protection against robbers and highway men. You never said that there were ninja out to get you. If we have known that, this would have been a B-rank mission or higher. I'm sure you have your reasons, but lying to us is unacceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission."

Tazuna hangs his head and stares down at the ground, as Sakura steps forwards.

"We're only Genin, this is too advance for us at the moment" she informs him gently. "We should go back to the village. Plus, I really think we need to get Naruto's wound treated and get the poison taken out as soon as possible"

We all look at Naruto as he gazes momentarily forgotten about his injury.

"Hmmmm, I guess we should head back to the village" Kakashi says teasingly. "Naruto's hand could become a problem"

The blonde growls in frustration, before suddenly whipping out a kunai and stabbing it into his.

I sigh looks like they will know about my medical skills.

"Look Naruto, that was really great hoe you got the poison out and all, but if you lose any more blood, you're gonna die" Kakashi informs Naruto, after Naruto gave his little speech, Naruto freezes. His eyes slowly drop to his bleeding hand, face turning an interesting blue color as Kakashi gives him a closed eye smile.

Naruto starts freaking out, dashing backwards and forwards, I head to him to heal his hand to see it already healing, Kakashi was standing right behind me and saw it too, he looked deep in thought. The nine tails chakra.

"Uh, Kakashi sensei? Sara?" Naruto asks worriedly. "You both have got a really scary expression on your face. Am I gonna be okay?" He wails. Kakashi pulls out a roll of bandages and wraps up Naruto's hand.

"Uhhh, yeah. You'll be fine" he assures Naruto, I just give him a smile.

We are moving slowly through the thick fog, we are all sitting in a small, wooden boat, with the motor turned off. A man stands at the back rowing it.

"This fog is so thick" Sakura whispers loudly. "You can't see anything!"

"The bridge isn't too far now" our rower informs us lowly. "The land of waves is just ahead"

We all look at the fog when we see a large, unfinished bridge, and we can see just how much work it's taken to get it to this point.

"Wow!" Naruto exclaims "it's huge!"

"Quiet!" our rower whispers loudly "I told you not to make any noise! We're travelling with the motor off so we can slip in silently. Yelling is not helping the situation!"

Naruto covers his mouth with his hands, as Kakashi turns to Tazuna.

"Mr. Tazuna" he addresses, "I need you to tell us why those men were after you. If you don't, I'm afraid I'll have to call off the mission as soon as we get you to pier."

Tazuna pauses before looking at us all.

"I guess I have no choice but to tell you then… wait, scratch that. I want to tell you the truth" he corrects himself, folding his hands in his lap. "Like you said earlier, this is in fact beyond the scope of your original mission. The one who seeks to take away my life is a very small man that casts a very large and deadly shadow. I'm sure you will have at least heard of him before Kakashi, he's one of the wealthiest men in the world. It's Gato, the man in charge of Gato transport."

Kakashi looks shocked.

"Gato?" the jounin repeats. "But he's a business leader, everyone knows him!"

Naruto looks at Kakashi, a question mark appearing above his head.

"Who's that?...Huh?...Huh?..." the blonde asks, not getting the hint as everyone ignores him.

"Yes, Gato is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company, that's true. But underneath all that, he sells drugs and contraband, using gangs and ninja" Tazuna explains darkly. "About a year ago was when Gato first set his sight on the land of waves. He took control of all our transport and shipping, and anyone who stood in his way would mysteriously disappear. In an island nation like ours, a man who controls the sea controls everything. Finance, government, our very lives!"

Tazuna pulls a disgusted face down at his hands, shaking his head, before continuing with his explanation.

"But the one thing he fears, is the bridge that I'm in charge of building" the old man chuckles humorlessly "When it is completed, it will connect our village to the mainland and that will break all of the control he has over us. So he sent people after me, to get rid of me and the threat that comes with my bridge."

"So because you're the bridge builder, you're the one standing in this gangster's way…" Sakura murmurs thoughtfully.

"So, that means that the guys that jumped us in the forest back there, were working for Gato" Sasuke states bluntly, as Naruto just nods, pretending to understand what the others are talking about.

"I don't understand though" Kakashi pipes up. "If you knew that he was dangerous, and you knew that he'd send ninja after you, why didn't you tell us that?"

"The land of waves is not a rich village" Tazuna says softly, looking back down at his hands. "We don't have a lot of money at the moment, thanks to Gato. We wouldn't have been able to afford paying for a B or A rank mission. If you end the mission when you drop me off at the pier, there will be no bridge. They will assassinate me before I get home"

Tazuna peers up at us.

"But don't feel bad about that!" he says cheerily. "Sure, after I'm dead, my little grandson will cry and call for his beloved grandfather. But I'm sure he'll get over that one day!...or maybe he won't. And sure, my daughter will condemn the ninja from the hidden leaf village and blame you for my death, living the rest of her life in misery. But I wouldn't worry about that, it won't be your fault."

Ok, that was seriously below the belt, there is no way we can say no now.

"Okay" Kakashi eventually says, shrugging, "I guess we'll just have to keep guarding you"

"Ooohh, much obliged" Tazuna replies, smiling triumphantly to himself.

"We're approaching the pier" our rower informs us as we float underneath the bridge. When we come out to the other side, we see a beautiful, yet small, village surrounded by water.

As we pull at the pier and get out of the boat, our rower bids us goodbye. He turns the motor on and speeds away.

"Okay!" Tazuna growls "Take me home"

This mission is probably about to become an A rank, they will probably send a jounin this time, meaning that I can't hold back, why do this missions keep following me.

I see Naruto suddenly stop and begin peering around, throwing a few kunai in a different directions, for a second there I think I sensed someone's chakra, watching us, but then it disappeared, just like a thought a jounin.

"Naruto! Those kunai are very dangerous" Kakashi sighs "They're not toys!"

Naruto looks over the bushes where he thrown a kunai, to reveal a petrified snow rabbit. The kunai is sticking into the tree, just above its head.

Why is the rabbit white? Substitution? So that's why sensed him for a second.

"Duck!" Kakashi warns everyone. As soon as we all drop, a massive sword comes spinning out of the trees behind us. It collides with a tree, sticking sideways into the trunk.

Suddenly, a tall, muscular man appears on the hilt of the sword, peering down at us over his shoulder. He has bandages covering the bottom half of his face and high waisted blue pants.

"Well, well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi" Kakashi speaks up, stepping forwards, "Rogue ninja from the hidden mist village"

Naruto was about to launch himself at Zabuza, but Kakashi pushes him back with his hand.

"You're in the way, stay back" Kakashi warns Naruto, to which the boy scowls.

"But why?!"

"Because, he's not like those other ninja" Kakashi announces "He's in a whole other league to them…"

"Looks like I will have to use this" Kakashi says lifting his forehead protector to reveal his sharingan.

"Hand over the old man, Kakashi of the sharingan!" Zabuza Suddenly demands.

Sasuke looks shocked, before he sends Kakashi a wary eye glance.

Zabuza's eyes move to me. Crap, did he recognize me?

"So that's why those two idiots failed, Kakashi of the sharingan, and the light princess" God, I hate that name stupid bingo book.

"The what?" Naruto asks, and the three genins along Tazuna look at me.

"Quick, protect the bridge builder!" Kakashi commands, Gesturing for us to form a human shield around Tazuna.

"Hmmm, looks like I get the honor of seeing the sharingan up close huh?" Zabuza asks sarcastically.

(AN: I'm gonna skip to the part where Kakashi gets trapped in the water prison jutsu, Naruto runs at Zabuza's clone and gets his headband back)

I knew we should have stuck with the D rank missions, with Kakashi stuck I will have to step in, I move from my place at the back of Tazuna.

"Guys, protect Tazuna" I tell them in a serious voice.

"Don't think I forget about you princess" he says doing a hand sign for 6 water clones to appear.

I draw my katana, and when 5 clones move at me, swinging their swords, I move too fast that for them it seems like I disappeared from my spot, I swing my katana from behind them getting rid of them.

I see another clone but it was fighting huge amounts of Naruto clones.

I see Naruto pulling something from his bag.

Seeing that Naruto has a plan I retreat next to him and Sasuke, to see how it will act out.

"Had enough, princess?" Zabuza asks me.

"First of all its Sara" I answer irritated with nickname "and second of all, I just think you're not worth the trouble."

Naruto gives Sasuke a shadow shuriken and he throws it at the real Zabuza, who catches it with hands, to find that another one was thrown at him, he jumps so it passes him, only for it to be a Naruto transformed, Naruto throws a kunai at Zabuza so he is forced to releases the water prison jutsu, freeing Kakashi.

"Told you weren't worth the trouble" I tell him with a smirk.

He throws the kunai at Naruto only for Kakashi to block it, with the metal on his glove.

"Naruto, great plan" Kakashi compliments him proudly "you guys have grown up"

(AN: again I'm skipping to the end of the fight)

We see two needles sticking out from Zabuza's neck, his eyes closed, Kakashi sensei places two fingers on Zabuza's neck, checking for a pulse.

"He's got no vital signs" He announces, sighing.

Something is wrong here.

Glancing at where the needles came from, I see a figure dressed in green and yellow, wearing an ANBU mask; from the looks he is no older than me or the genins

"Looks like you were right" he agrees softly "It was his last battle"

"Thank you" he says humbly "I've been tracking Zabuza for quite some time now, just waiting for the chance to finally take him down"

"By the looks of your mask, I'd say that you're a tracking ninja from the village hidden in the mist" Kakashi comments, watching the ninja warily.

"Hmmm, impressive" he compliments kindly. "You're obviously well informed. I am indeed a tracking ninja from the hidden mist village, and it was my duty to stop Zabuza"

Something is wrong here, why would he throw the needles at his neck, it's not a vital point.

The tracker Ninja disappears in a gust of wind and reappears next to Zabuza's body, he places him across his shoulder, before disappearing in another gust of wind.

So he wasn't trying to kill him.

Before I can voice my thoughts I hear a thud from behind me I turn around, to see Kakashi on the ground.

I sweat drop, he over used it again.

"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto and Sakura say.

"Don't worry" I say moving towards them "He just overused his sharingan"

They nod in understanding, Naruto and Sasuke put his arms around them to carry him the rest of the way, to Tazuna's house.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Sara Pov**

We were now at Tazuna's house, we met his daughter tsunami, and I waited till Kakashi sensei was to tell them about Zabuza.

Kakashi peers up at us from his bed sheepishly.

"I think I over did it with my sharingan" he mutters.

"Look Kakashi sensei" she begins with a sigh "your sharingan is amazing and all, but if it puts this much strain on you, then maybe it's just not worth using it?"

"Well, you did take out one of the most powerful ninja assassins, so we'll be safe for a while" Tazuna grunts, as Sakura gives Kakashi a thoughtful look.

"Yeah….But what about that boy with the mask?" she asks, fidgeting in her seat.

Kakashi explains all about hunter Nins, and how they do their job, when he finishes he leans forward, resting his hand on his forehead.

"Something wrong Kakashi sensei?" Naruto questions him, making the jounin sit up straight in surprise.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine" he assures the blonde. "To finish what I was saying before, tracker ninja deal with the body immediately, on the spot, so there's no room for error"

"So you realized too" I tell him in a calm voice, making all eyes turn to me "I realized it there, but you fainted before I could say anything"

"Realized what?" Sakura questions.

"Well, think about it" he replies "Do you remember what that tracker ninja did with Zabuza's body?"

"Ummm, well, we don't know what he did" Sakura reminds him sounding confused. "He took the body away with him"

Kakashi nods thoughtfully.

"Exactly. But why?" he asks brows furrowing "He should've worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible."

"Think of the weapons he used to take Zabuza down" I tell them.

"Senbon needles" Sasuke supplies, before realization dawns on him "No way!"

Kakashi and I nod.

"Exactly, from my experience Senbon needles need to hit a vital organ to kill" I inform them

"None of it adds up…" Kakashi mutters

"What are you guys talking about?" Tazuna asked.

"Most likely Zabuza's alive" Kakashi conclude, I nod in agreement.

I look at the others to see shock written all over their faces.

"But Kakashi sensei you checked him yourself!" Sakura cries "You said his heart has stopped sensei!"

"That must just have been a temporary state of death, I use it sometimes too" Kakashi nods.

"Like I said before Senbon needles kill if they hit a vital organ not the neck"

"That's right" Kakashi agrees "They can be modified for medical use, such as acupuncture. Trackers are specially trained to know every detail of the human body. Temporarily stopping the heart, while keeping the body alive, is an easy task for them."

"First of all" the jounin continues "He carried Zabuza's body away, even though it's much heavier than his own. Secondly, he used non-lethal Senbon needles. So from these two facts, we can conclude that the tracker wasn't trying to dispose of Zabuza, he was trying to save him"

Tazuna shifts from his spot on the floor.

"C'mon!" he drawls "You're over thinking this aren't you?"

"No with all the suspicion we will prepare before it's too late. That's a shinobi rule. Plus whether Zabuza is dead or alive there are no assurances that Gato hasn't hired an even stronger shinobi"

"Hold on!" Sakura demands, holding up a hand "A little last minute training isn't gonna make us any stronger! You could barely defeat Zabuza, even with your Sharingan! We have to be reasonable about this!"

"Sakura, why do you think I was able to stop Zabuza?" Kakashi asks her, continuing without waiting for an answer "Because, you all helped me. You've grown. Naruto! You've grown the most"

"So you noticed!" he exclaims proudly, as Kakashi sends him a closed eye smile. "Now things are gonna get better. Believe it!"

"I don't believe it! And nothing's gonna be good!" a voice cries angrily. Everyone turns to the door in surprise. A little brown haired boy with a white hat is standing in the doorway, glaring at everyone. Naruto jabs a finger in his direction.

"Who are you?!" He blows, as Tazuna scurries to his feet.

"Inari! Where have you been?!" He cries happily as the little boy runs to him.

"Welcome back grandpa!" he replies excitedly, hugging Tazuna tightly. Tsunami walks over to him, hands on her hips.

"Inari, that was very rude!" she scolds him "These ninja helped your grandpa back here safely!"

"It's okay! I'm rude to them too!" he laughs, while patting Inari's head. The kid just glares back at us, before turning to his mother.

"Mother, don't you see?! These people are gonna die!" he tells her frantically, making Naruto clench his fists. "Gato and his men are gonna come back, find them and kill them all!"

"What'd you say brat?!" he questions angrily, jumping to his feet "Listen up! You know what a super ninja is?!"

"Well, it's me, only a lot better! I'm gonna be Hokage someday!" he states "This Gato or Blato or whatever his name is, is no match for a hero like me!" Believe it!"

Inari glares up at Naruto.

"Huh, there's no such thing as a hero!" he yells. "You're just full of stupid ideas!"

Naruto stares at Inari wide eyed, before growing angry, pointed teeth.

"What'd you say?!" he yells, struggling to get away from Sakura, who is struggling to him back.

"Naruto stop it! He's just a kid!" she cries, as Inari turns to leave the room.

"If you all wanna stay alive, you should go back where you came from" he informs us, before turning around and leaving the room.

Tazuna sighs.

"Sorry about that" he grumbles. Naruto follows after him.

"Alright! Training starts now!" Kakashi tells us, leaning on a wooden crutch.

"Right!" Naruto salutes him. We were now in a forest close to the village. It was full of tall green trees.

"We will begin with a review of chakra, the ninja's basic source of power. Understanding chakra, and how it works, is essential" Kakashi continues, as Sasuke puts his hands in his pockets.

"We already know that" the Uchiha sighs, while Naruto grins his eyes closed.

"He's right!" the blonde agrees brightly "A long time ago we learned about catra!"

"It's chakra" Kakashi corrects, making Naruto sweat drop. "Go ahead Sakura"

She goes explaining what chakra is, and I doze off admiring the woods around us.

"Sara!" I am brought back from my thoughts by Kakashi.

"Yes?"

"Can you show them how to climb a tree without hands?" he tells me, I think this is his way of telling me it's no use hiding what I know now.

"Fine" I do a hand sign, gathering chakra to the bottom of my legs before I walk to a tree and start climbing, till I reach the first branch I stand there to see the looks of amazement the three are giving me.

I jump down Kakashi explains the point of the training and how to do it. He hands each of them a kunai, telling them, to mark the highest point they reach.

"Who exactly are you?" Sasuke asks me making the others look at me as well.

"That Zabuza guy called you some nickname" he states

"And come to think of it" Sakura joins the conversation "When you fought against his clones, you moved really fast, and when we were back at the house, you knew all about those needles"

"And now you know this tree climbing thing" Naruto adds.

I sigh before I sit down, motioning for them to sit down.

They four of us sit in a circle while Kakashi sensei, sits at the feet of tree resting his back on it.

"Well" I start talking, and they look at me curiosity written all over their faces "how do I say this? I am what people call a prodigy"

There face were now one of shock.

"I became a ninja, when I was 6 years old" I continue "Right now; I am at jounin skill level, as for the reason on why I remained a Genin or why I joined your team, well I don't plan on telling you right now"

"And the nickname, the light princess?" Sakura asks me

"That was given to me by other ninja's and has to do with some stuff related to my clan, which I'm not telling you about it now too" When I see them about to argue with that "Look I told all I plan on telling you at the moment, as for rest I will tell when the time is right ok? I wasn't planning on telling you about this anytime soon, but this mission is an A rank now, which means I can't hold back" they nod before standing up to start the training, I can see they have a lot of questions, but where is the fun in telling all of it at once, I smile at that thought.

"Since you're not very experienced with this, you should run at the tree to gain momentum" Kakashi informs them, and they start running at the tree, after they gathered chakra to the bottom of their feet.

"Chaaaaarge!" Naruto shouts running at the tree. He takes two steps onto the tree and slides down, landing heavily on his back. Sasuke runs about three meters up a tree, before slicing it and doing a flip, landing back on the ground.

"Well, that's about what I expected from Sasuke…. And Naruto" I hear Kakashi mumble, I just sit on the ground watching them.

"Hey, this is fun!" Sakura giggles. I glance up at a tree, only to see her sitting on a branch, about twenty meters up. Sasuke and Naruto look shocked, and slightly annoyed.

"Well, looks like out of the three, that Sakura has the best chakra control" Kakashi compliments.

"Well done Sakura" Kakashi praises the pinkette, making her smile.

"Yeah! Way to go Sakura-Chan!" Naruto cheers, making Sakura sweat drop. "I always knew you were awesome! Believe it!"

"Whatever" Sasuke mumbles jealousy, looking away.

I zone out for the rest of training as I lay on my back watching the clouds.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Sara's Pov**

Sakura and I were at the bridge with Tazuna she was sitting on the railing watching the men work while she yawned, while I was standing looking at the water, resting my chin on my hand, trying to keep my eyes open.

"Are you two always this lazy?" Tazuna asked as he stomped by us.

She sighed, as I continued to stare at the water.

"Where are the weird blonde kid and the one with the attitude?" He asked putting some wood down.

"They are training" she answered him.

"Too tough for you?" Tazuna mocked.

"No in fact I'm the best, that's why sensei sent me here to guard you" she said completely forgetting about me.

"You're joking" Tazuna laughed which caused Sakura to give him the angriest glare, "And you?" he asked turning to me.

"I already know that stuff" I said not bothering to face him, I am too bored to do that.

Before he could give some rude comment, a man approached him.

"Uh, Tazuna I need to talk to you"

"Huh? What about?" Tazuna asked whipping the sweat from his forehead.

"Uh, well, the thing is. I've been thinking a lot about the bridge and I've decided, I've pushed my luck far enough, I want out"

"NOW YOU'RE GOING TO QUIT ON ME JUST LIKE THAT! YOU'RE KIDDING!" Tazuna screamed, by now I had turned to watch him and the other man.

"You know, I stayed on because of our friendship but I'm putting my life on the line every day I stay here. Gato and his thugs will show up eventually. And when they do they'll kill you and the bridge will never get finished anyway. It's a lost cause Tazuna. Why don't we stop now while we can still get out of this alive?" the man said.

"No chance" Tazuna growled after a few moments pause. "This is our bridge. Our island is poor and it will stay that way until this bridge connects us to the main land. Comers' trade and Hope! That's what we're building here"

"There's not going to be much hope if we're all dead"

"It's already noon, lets break for launch" Tazuna growled walking straight past the man. He was angry and everyone could see it.

"Tazuna, Let's not end it like this" The man cried out to him as he walked past.

"Save you breath. Oh and Giichi don't bother coming back after lunch"

"This is fantastic; it's been ages since we've had so many guests around our table" Tazuna laughs fixing his glasses.

Naruto and Kakashi sat at one side of the table with Sasuke and Inari opposite them. Tazuna was at the head of the table and at the other head sat Sakura; I am sitting right beside her.

Sasuke and Naruto were hastily shoveling food into their mouths. My eyes darted between them, I can't believe that someone could eat this fast.

Then, at the same time, Naruto and Sasuke stood up holding their bowls in the air shouting "I want some more!"

When they realized that they had just copied each other their eyes met and they glared at each other. If looks can kill those two would be dead right now. They growled at each other and then they sat down and turned to the sides, throwing up all the food they just ate.

I look down and sigh.

"I think I lost my appetite" I mumble.

"DON'T EAT SO MUCH IF YOUR GONNA PUKE IT UP!" Sakura shouted glaring back and forth between them.

"I have to eat" Sasuke panted wiping his mouth.

"And I have to eat more than him. It's only way I'll get strong enough to beat him" Naruto growled through gritted teeth.

"That's true. But puking won't help you" Kakashi nodded crossing his arms.

After dinner Sakura was looking at a picture hanging on the wall, as we were still sitting on the table, while Tsunami cleans up from dinner.

"Hey, this picture is ripped" Sakura suddenly said, grabbing our attention "Is there a reason for that?"

"I noticed that you kept glancing up at it Inari. Don't you think it's kind of strange to keep a photo where someone's been torn out of it?" Sakura said looking over at Inari.

"That's my husband" Tsunami says in a sad voice.

"They used to call him hero in this land" Tazuna speaks up sadly, when Inari suddenly jumps out of his chair.

"Inari! Where are you going?!" his mother calls, worried. He ignores her, marching from the house and slamming the door behind him. Tsunami runs up to the door, casting a dirty look at Tazuna.

"Father! You know that you can't talk about him like that in front of Inari!" she scolds before disappearing out the door as well.

Tazuna tells us about Inari's father Kaiza how he they were close, although he wasn't his real father, and how he saved the village from being flooded, and was called a hero, but when stood up to Gato he killed him in front of the entire village, to be an example.

"No one should see their parents get killed in front of them" I mumble to myself in a low voice, but I think Sasuke heard me, more because he was staring at me.

Naruto stands, before falling straight over, face planting the floor.

"What are you doing down there Naruto?" Sakura asks exasperatedly, hands on her hips.

"You'd better take the day off, no more training until you're fully rested. You've used up too much chakra, and if you keep pushing yourself, it could kill you"

"I'm gonna prove it!" he informs us, pushing himself up from the floor.

"What?" Sakura asks.

"I'll prove to him, that there are real heroes in this world!" he exclaims determinedly, before turning around and running from the house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Sara Pov**

I woke up startled. I was panting heavily, sweating. I wiped the sweat with the back of my hand.

I look at Sakura to see she was still sleeping, I decided to go outside to get some air.

I went outside, and dangled my legs over the side of the wooding flooring that surround the house my legs were right above water.

I lift my head and stare at the stars; the same dream was hunting me.

I feel someone coming behind me; I turn my head to see it was Sasuke; I give him a small smile, before turning and continuing to stare at the stars.

He sits beside me; we sit in silence for a few minutes, before he starts to talk.

"Can I ask you something?" he asks, I think he said it debating if he should ask.

"Sure" I answer him my eyes still on the stars.

"Did we know each other before team 7?" he asks

I turn my face towards him; I decide to play with him a little.

"Maybe" I give him a vague answer.

"Did we or didn't we? Can give you a more specific answer?" he says, trying to keep his calm.

"And where is the fun in that" I said smiling.

**Sasuke Pov**

"And where is the fun in that" she says with a smile, but then I remember something.

**_-Flashback-_**

_"Do you know what the mission they went on is?" a four year old version of me asks a girl with black hair tied at the end, and brown._

_"Maybe" she answers_

_"Why do you never give a direct answer?"_

_"Where is the fun in that?" she answers with a smile._

**_-End of flashback-_**

"We did know each other" I inform her, now I remember her, our brother knew each other that was how we met, but when we were five, something happened I didn't see her since then, and it was before the massacre so what could have happened.

**Sara Pov**

"We did know each other" he informs me, so he remembered, I guess after the massacre he blocked most memories with Itachi, that's why he didn't remember.

"Glad to see you finally remembered" I inform him, before turning my head to watch the stars, "I was starting to think you never will"

"But what happened to you back then? You kinda disappeared!" he asks me, I can still feel his gaze on me

"A lot happened but where is the fun in telling you everything now" I tell him, enjoying his growing frustration.

He just lets out a deep sigh.

"You didn't change much, still the same with the vague answers"

"I guess" I say standing up, "I have to go now, see you in the morning okay?" I don't give him time to answer, as I start walking away.

I was now walking in the forest, following Naruto's chakra signature, when I find him, I hide in a tree, and watch him while he trains.

I sit on a branch watching him trying over and over again; every time he falls he gets up again.

"You know you won't prove anything, if you die because of the lack of chakra" I tell him, he jumps and falls shocked that I was sitting there.

I jump down and walk to him.

"Here" I tell him with a closed eye smile, offering my hand so he can get back up.

He takes it, giving me a wide grin.

"Thanks" he tells me when he is on his leg.

"I know you want to prove that there are real heroes and all, but sometimes resting is as important as training" I tell him, but I shouldn't be one to talk, I sometimes push myself off the edge too.

"I can't" he says with a determined look on his face "I won't stop till I reach the top, believe it!"

I guess I could give him a reward for his determination, since I know his too dense to remember.

"Well, I came here to ask you something" I tell him, motioning for him to sit down.

"Do I by any chance look familiar to you?" I ask him to see if he remembers anything

"Well, I think so, I don't know, I have this feeling like we met before, but I can't just put my finger on it" he tells me scratching his chin.

"That's because we met when we were four" I inform him "We were friends for a short while, but….I kinda got caught up with some stuff that I lost touch with the friends I had back then"

I look at him to see a look on his face like he is trying to remember something.

"I can tell you about when we first met" I tell him

**_-Flashback-_**

_A four years old version of me was walking was my nine years old brother, going home after we spent the morning with Itachi and Sasuke_,_ the sun was setting._

_ When we walked by the playground_,_ I saw a little blonde kid, on the ground crying, with other kids around him annoying him, before they left with their parents._

_I walked to the kid._

_"Here" I told him with a closed eye smile, offering my hand so he can get up._

_"Huh?" he said looking at me._

_"Don't worry I don't bite"_

_He took my hand._

_"My name is Sara Hiroshi, what's yours?"_

_"Naruto Uzumaki"_

_"Well, Naruto do you want to be friends?" I ask him with a smile, he looked startled by my question._

_"R-really?!" he asked_

_"Really" I inform him with another closed eye smile._

_"Yeah!" he says grinning widely._

**_-End of flashback-_**

I look at Naruto, to see the flick of remembrance in his eyes.

"After that we were friends for about year" I inform him "But like I said because of some stuff I lost touch with my friends, you and Sasuke among those friends"

"Sasuke too?"

"Yeah, I talked to him about it before, I came to you" I look at the star filled sky, before standing up "I think you should rest, but no matter how many times I tell you I know you won't listen"

He laughs sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

I just smile and start to leave.

"I will go back to the house" before I leave he says something that stops me.

"I am glad we got to be friends again"

"Me too, Naruto" I tell him with a smile before leaping in the trees and heading back to the house.

I go back to the room, Sakura and I share, to find her still sleeping, I lay down in bed, thinking about everything that happened tonight before drifting to a dreamless sleep.


	8. Special no1 Meeting Sasuke

**I thought since i told the story of how Sara and Naruto met in the last chapter, i would write how Sara and Sasuke met, so here goes.**

**Special no.1**

**Meeting Sasuke**

**Third Pov**

"So who is this person you want me to meet?!" A four year old girl, asks while walking backwards.

The little girl had black hair, which reached mid-back, which was tied at the bottom, and brown eyes.

"He is friend, I met him on my last mission" a ten year old buy answers her, with a smile.

The boy had black hair, brown eyes, and he wore the leaf headband on his forehead.

"Wow so you finally made a friend" the girl said in teasing voice

"You make it sound like I never had any friends"

"I don't think you had any friends before, nii-san"

"I am not anti-social, you are so childish"

"Well, I am just four" she says in a matter of fact voice.

"I don't know how you end up making friends with everyone you meet, but you enjoy the frustration of those in front of you"

"Only when I am the one who caused it, and you're the only one I frustrate by teasing, I frustrate other people by vague answers and sometimes teasing" She said the last sentence after he gave her a glare.

"Any way what's his name?"

"Itachi Uchiha"

After a while of walking, and the girl teasing the older boy, the two arrived at a clearing in the forest, there was a 9 year old boy with raven black hair and onyx eyes.

"Hey Itachi" The boy called

"Good to see you actually came" Itachi said with a smirk "Ready to see who is actually better"

"You're on Uchiha"

"You must be Itachi uchiha, I am Sara Hiroshi nice to meet you" the little girl introduced herself after standing right in front of Itachi, with her hand in front of her.

"Nice to meet you too" Itachi said shaking the girl's hand.

"What's with the polite attitude, all of a sudden?!" The brown eyed boy exclaims.

"I am always nice" the girl says with a close eyed smile, making him anime fall.

Sara turns to see another boy standing behind Itachi, clutching to his leg, he looked like he was the same age as her.

"Hi I am Sara Hiroshi, who are you?" She says extending her arm for him to shake.

"Sasuke Uchiha" he said shaking her hands

"Nice to meet you Sasuke"

"Hey Sasuke, my name is Yoshio Hiroshi" The brown eyed boy introduced himself.

"Ok, now that we are done with the introductions" Yoshio said turning to Itachi "How about we start that challenge of yours, Itachi?"

"Well get back and I will show you" he said with a smirk.

They all got back, except for Itachi, who stood in the center, kunais in hand, he jumped in the air, doing some flips and throwing kunai, to the targets, for them to hit bulls' eye, even the one hidden behind the rock.

"Wow" Sara says with an open mouth when Itachi approaches them "I want to go next!" she exclaims.

"I don't think it's safe, for a four year's old" Itachi tells her in a gentle voice

"Then you have no idea who I am. Can I try nii-san?" she says looking at Yoshio and giving him her puppy eyed face.

"Sure" he tells her, she starts jumping in the air before walking to the center where Itachi was standing before.

"Are you sure she will be alright?" Itachi whispers to Yoshio, taking place next to Sasuke.

"Just watch" is all he tells him, making him turn his head to see the little girl, standing in the middle of the clearing with Senbon needles in hand instead of kunais, she jumps in the air and starts throwing her needles, adjusting their paths by throwing other needles at them, like he did with the kunais, in the end her needles was dead center in all the targets.

He was astonished how a four years old girl could do that training.

"I did it!" she starts jumping in the air shouting.

"That was amazing Sara-Chan!" Sasuke shouts at the little girl.

"She is a prodigy too" Yoshio explains after he saw the astonished look on Itachi's face "She is really smart and talented, childish, but with training she will be stronger than both of us"

"I see" he says taking another look at the little girl who was talking with Sasuke.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Sasuke Pov**

"Good morning" Sakura greeted us, yawning. She sits down at the table, just as Tsunami brings her a bowl of food.

"Here you go!" the woman says cheerfully, giving Sakura a closed eye smile.

"Oh thank you!"

"Where is Sara? She wasn't in bed when I woke up" Sakura asks.

"She woke up before the two of you" Kakashi states "She said she was going to train a little"

"Naruto's not here too?" Tazuna asks, sipping a cup of hot tea. "He must've been out all night again"

"He's probably lying dead somewhere" Sakura scoffs "He's been overworking himself, climbing trees in the dark"

Tsunami walks back over to the table, dying a pan with a cloth.

"Well, I certainly hope he's not" she says worriedly "Honestly, a child sleeping out in the woods alone? It's so dangerous out there"

Kakashi waves his hand dismissively.

"He'll be fine, don't worry about him" the jounin assures her "He may be a complete idiot, but he's still a full-fledged ninja, so he'll be just fine."

"Hm, Sakura's right" I say "He probably is lying dead out there somewhere" I stand away from the table, placing my hands in my pockets.

"Sasuke?" Sakura calls "Where are you going?"

"For a walk" I reply simply, before walking out of the front door.

She must have gone early to avoid any questions I might have. She did the same thing last night leaving without giving me time to ask any questions. Where did she go last night? She didn't go back to the house.

**Sara Pov**

I woke up early, Kakashi sensei was already awake, I told him I was going to train, before making my way to a clearing a little way from where Naruto was training last night.

I mostly want to train, just so I would avoid any questions Sasuke might have.

"Shadow clone jutsu" I say out loud, for 5 clones to appear surrounding me in a circle.

I draw my Katana as they come at me, I know fighting myself won't do much but it's the only way I can train right now.

As the clones come at me, with their own Katana, I block their attacks and lunge with my own at them, the sound of metal clashing was heard when our Katanas clashed, I put some chakra to my katana, and push them away before crouching, and swinging my one of my feet at them, Three of the fall while the other two jump on the air avoiding it.

I aim my katana at the fallen three, I get rid of two, but one manages to flip out of the way at the neck of time.

The thing about my clones is that I can give them as much chakra as I want, or limit them with certain skills, so when I create clones for training I give them different skills.

So two down and three to go, suddenly one of my clones, sheath her katana and starts making hand seals.

"Fire style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu" she shouts before putting a hand to her mouth, and shoots fire at me, I dodge every attack, before sheathing my own katana.

I make hands seals, "Water style: Giant wave jutsu" I put my hands on the ground, and a giant wave rises from there, getting rid of two clones, while the third jumps to a tree, avoiding my attack.

As soon as my jutsu is done, my clone comes at me with a punch; I put my hands in front of me, to stop it before kicking her in the stomach, causing her to hit a tree hard, that the tree falls, before she disappears in puff.

"I think I over did it" I say out loud, I climb a tree to the highest branch and lay down watching the clouds.

That would be enough training for now.

**Third Pov**

"Naruto!" The pink haired kunoichi calls loudly "Knowing Naruto they could be anywhere and Sasuke hasn't come back either. I wonder where they are"

Suddenly from high somewhere a kunai knife came flying and landed right in front of Sakura. They all looked up in surprise and Sakura gripped tighter onto the picnic basket she was holding.

As the looked up they saw Naruto lying down on a branch with the biggest grin on his face. Kakashi and Sakura's eyes widen, as they realize just how high up Naruto was.

"Whoa. Naruto can climb that high now using his chakra? That's great!" Sakura praised.

"What do you think? High enough for you guys? I mean it's a long way down!" Naruto shouted down happily. He then jumped up and stood on the branch with his hands on his hips. Suddenly his foot slipped and he started to fall backwards.

"Oh Naruto!" Sakura called.

"Uh oh" Kakashi muttered.

Sakura broke out into a scream and shut her eyes tightly. Naruto only wrapped around and stood on the other side of the branch. Now hanging upside down.

He broke out into laughter and grinned at them "Just kidding! You guys really fell for it!"

"We were worried about you Naruto!" Sakura shrieked.

"Why do I think this is going to end badly?" Kakashi said with a bored look on his face.

Naruto laughed again but it soon stopped as his feet popped off of the branch. Kakashi's face changes from bored to worried as did Sakura's.

"YOU JUST HAD TO PUSH IT DIDN'T YOU SHOWOFF?" Sakura bellowed.

Naruto began to freak out as he fell, screaming loudly while his face was mortified. However while everyone was looking at Naruto, Sasuke was hanging upside down from the branch Naruto fell from, holding Naruto by his ankle.

"You really are total loser Naruto" Sasuke mocked.

"Gah! Sasuke?" Naruto wondered looking up.

"Oh! Alright Sasuke you're the best!" Sakura admired.

"If I'm still sane by the time I finish their training it will be a miracle" Kakashi laughed giving his students a closed eye smile. "Come on you two we still need to find Sara"

After a little while the four ninjas, arrive at a clearing for their eyes to widen, the clearing was with burned grass, and a fallen tree.

"Hey guys" a voice calls from up making them look at a high tree branch where they spot Sara before she jumps down making the three genins's eyes widen, she starts making her way to them.

"Were you the one who did this to this place?" Sakura asks

"Yeah I think I over did it with my training" She says smiling sheepishly, and rubbing the back of her neck.

"How did you jump from that height without getting hurt?" Naruto asks

"That's a secret" she taunts him.

**Sara Pov**

"Now they're both late. I would expect that from Naruto not from Sasuke" Sakura spoke softly.

Her eyes went wide as the door opened, revealing Sasuke who was supporting Naruto, and both looked completely wiped out.

"What have you boys been up to?" Tazuna asks, raising an eyebrow. "You both look like something the cat dragged in."

"Heheh, we both made it to the top of the tree!" Naruto replies, grinning happily. Kakashi nods his head with approval, before crossing his arms.

"Good, we can move onto the next part of your training then" he explains "tomorrow you will both be bodyguards for Tazuna as well. Good job"

Still standing in the doorway, Naruto throws his arms in the air, which causes him and Sasuke to lose their balance and fall over.

"Haha! Alright!" Naruto cheers, making Sasuke growl.

"You are such a loser!" he exclaims, to which everyone laughs.

"I've been meaning to ask you this but I haven't had the chance until now. Why did you stay and protect me even after you found out I lied to bring you here?" Tazuna asked.

"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage. But under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive"

"That was a quote from the first Hokage" he informs everyone with a closed eye smile. Inari stares at Naruto thoughtfully, tears forming in his eyes.

"But why?" Inari starts shouting "No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work. When facing the strong, the weak will only end up getting killed!"

"Whatever kid I'm not like you" Naruto said

"I'd hate to be like you! You don't know anything about this country, yet you're being nosy! What the hell do you know about me?! I'm different from you, you're always clowning around and acting so cheerful, you don't know how hard life can be!" He shouted at Naruto.

This kid really need to control himself, I envy Naruto for being able to have his childish nature, when he didn't have his parents.

"It's okay for you to pose as the star of a tragedy and cry all day? Just keep on crying forever you idiot! You little sissy!" Naruto shouted, that was a little harsh Naruto.

"Naruto you've said enough!" Sakura shouted at him

I get up quietly, before making my way to the roof; I laid down watching the stars with that memory playing in my head.

I felt Inari and Kakashi sitting down, so I decided to listen in on their conversation.

"Well, Naruto didn't mean any harm by what they said. Naruto sometimes doesn't use his head. Tazuna-san told us about your dad. Like you, Naruto grew up without a father"

Inari was silent.

"Actually he's never known his parents and he's never had a single friend." If you don't count me, I was his friend for a little while "The truth is, he's had a rougher past than you"

"Huh? But I never once seen him cry or complain"

"He's always trying his best to get people to acknowledge him for that dream he'd risk his life at any time. He's probably sick and tired of crying. He knows what it really mean to be strong, just like your father. Naruto may understand you're feeling better than anyone else."

"What?"

"He doesn't seem to be able to not be concerned about you"

Inari was completely silent, feeling sleepy I get off the roof and go to my room.

We were all now heading for the bridge; all except Naruto he was still asleep from exhaustion. We left him with Tsunami back at the house.

Suddenly I sense chakra from the bridge, two chakras; one belonged to Zabuza, and the other for the 'tracker Nin'.

"They are there" I whisper to Kakashi loud enough for only him to hear, he gives me a small nod.

When we finally arrive at the bridge, everyone's eyes widened from the sight. The few men that had been working on the bridge that day were lying on the ground unconscious or some dead.

"What happened?" Tazuna shouted "Someone was here! Someone got to them!"

"Sakura! Sasuke! Sara! Get ready!" Kakashi Orders us.

Sasuke, Sakura and I stand in protective semi-circle around Tazuna. Sakura and Sasuke pull out their kunais ready, while I unsheathe my Katana.

"He just couldn't wait for round two" Kakashi voiced through gritted teeth.

"Kakashi sensei it's Zabuza isn't it? This is his hidden mist jutsu!" Sakura piped.

"Sorry I kept you waiting Kakashi. I see you've still got those brats, even the princess is still here. That's one's still trembling, pitiful" Zabuza said referring to Sasuke as seven water clones surrounded us.

"I'm trembling with excitement!" Sasuke smirked, as did I this is going to be interesting.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Sara Pov**

"I'm trembling with excitement!" Sasuke smirked, as did I this is going to be interesting.

"Go on Sasuke" Kakashi grinned.

Just as a Zabuza clone swung at him, Sasuke leapt into the air and attacked all the clones with his kunai. The clones splashed to the ground, so a little chakra control training and he already improved that much.

"Ooh so you could see they were water clones huh? The brat's improving" Zabuza mocked stepping out of the mist with the 'tracking nin' from last time. "Looks like you've got a rival Haku"

"So it seems" the masked Nin says quietly.

"Well, well, so I had it right. It was all an act." Kakashi says

"An act?" Tazuna asked.

"With a cute little mask" Kakashi smiled, he does remember that I was the one who pointed it out.

"HUH?" Sakura shouted looking back and forth between Kakashi and Haku.

"Big phony!" Sasuke mocked

"So I guess all that about being a tracker ninja protecting his village was just a bunch of bull" Tazuna assumed gruffly.

"Exactly, they probably have been doing this trick for some time now" I answer.

"He's got some nerve facing us again after pulling that trick" Sakura sneered

"And hiding behind a mask, who does he think he's fooling?" Kakashi mocked

"Ha, speak for yourself sensei" Sakura teased clearing her throat.

"That's it" Sasuke ground out. "I'm taking him out. Who does he think he's fooling, hiding behind that mask like some sort of clown?"

"Sasuke!" Sakura cheered "You're so cool!"

I sweat drop, even in the middle of a battle, she finds time to fan girl over Sasuke.

"He's impressive" Haku said to Zabuza. "Even though they were just one tenth the strength of the original water clone jutsu, he did destroy them all"

"That move still gave us the first advantage" Zabuza growled "Now use it"

"Right" Haku said before he joined the wind and spun in circles quickly, making him look like a small tornado.

Haku and Sasuke clash, Haku with a Senbon needle, Sasuke with a kunai, the tension between the two blades was obvious.

"Sakura cover Tazuna and stay close to me. Let Sasuke handle this!" Kakashi said out loud.

"Sara" he whispered loud enough for me to hear "Be ready to help Sasuke"

"Already am" I said in a calm voice

"Yes kakashi sensei!" Sakura shouted.

Sasuke and Haku broke away from each other and then swung with full force. Their blades collided again with a shrieking sound.

"We want the bridge builder not you" Haku started to say looking directly at Sasuke "If you back down I won't have to kill you"

"Save it" Sasuke smirked putting more pressure on the blade.

"You're making a mistake. You won't be able to keep up with my speed. I've gained two key advantages"

"Yeah? What are they?" Sasuke asked mockingly.

"First we're surrounded by water. Second I've blocked one of your hands; therefore, you only have one hand to defend yourself" Haku said holding up his free hand in a hand sign,

What? Hand signs with a single hand, he is more skilled than I thought, I can do it but with certain conditions, that's I only do it when there is no other choice.

"Secret jutsu" Haku said calmly "A thousand needles of death"

"Sasuke!" Sakura cries worriedly.

Ice needles start forming in midair, aiming for Sasuke. Haku leaps away, as the needles crash into the rave haired boy, creating a small explosion of water.

Haku leaps away, as shuriken are suddenly thrown at him.

Sasuke had leapt into the air, good to see he learned something from the training.

"You're not as fast as you think" Sasuke taunts as appears behind him "From now on; you'll be the one defending yourself against me!"

Haku and Sasuke dash across the bridge, before Sasuke manages to land a kick on Haku's jaw. Sending him flying backwards. He skids to a halt at Zabuza's feet.

"You thought you were quicker than me huh? Well let's find out what else you were wrong about" Sasuke says confidently.

"You made a big mistake by insulting my students and calling them brats" Kakashi tells Zabuza and Haku "That's just guaranteed to bring out Sasuke's attitude. He is the best young ninja in the hidden leaf village after all. And Sakura here has the sharpest mind" he adds making Sakura chuckle nervously.

"And of course there's our number one, hyper-active, knuckle head ninja, Naruto Uzumaki, and our very own prodigy, Sara Hiroshi"

I smirk at that.

Zabuza broke into a laugh, "Hmm, Haku if we keep going like this we'll be the victims instead of the. Get on with it!"

"Right!" Haku replied standing up, chakra radiating from his body.

"What's that?" Sasuke asks rhetorically.

"I'm sorry that it had to come to this" Haku apologies lowly. He brings his hands together and do strange hand sign, as icy rectangles begin forming all around him and Sasuke, trapping them inside.

"Secret jutsu: Crystal ice mirrors!" Haku shouted as the mirrors began to glow.

"What is that?" Kakashi wondered "How does it work?"

"It's a Kekkei Genkai" I inform him "I read about it, it belonged to the Yuki clan, let's just say from what I read that this isn't good, not good at all"

His eyes turn to watch what's happening, Haku walks forwards, stepping inside one of the ice mirrors. His image suddenly appears in every one of them. I have to do something.

When I try and dash forward to interfere, when Zabuza steps in front of me.

"If either you or the copycat try and enter the fight, you will fight me" He informs us darkly "Your boy has no chance against Haku's jutsu. He's finished"

From inside the dome, we can hear Sasuke groaning, as he is hit by hundreds of Senbon needles.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi calls urgently, while I grit my teeth trying to figure out what to do.

"Just try to help him" Zabuza sneers "And I'll kill the other two behind you in a heartbeat!"

"Sakura" I call she looks at me I can see the distressed look in her eyes "Go help Sasuke leave the bridge builder to me."

She nods pulling out a kunai, and rushing towards the dome.

She leaps up and throws the kunai into the dome.

"Take that!" She cries, grinning determinedly. I suddenly sense Naruto's chakra coming towards us.

Haku's hand shoots out from one of the mirrors, easily catching the kunai in midair. He watches Sasuke collapses to the ground, as Sakura gasps.

"No!" she cries, hands balled into fists "He caught it!"

I glance up, just as a shuriken hits Haku's mirror, knocking him out of it. He sits up with a slight moan, as a large dome of smoke appears. Naruto!

"Number one, hyper-active, knuckle head ninja…." Haku mumbles, raising his head.

As the smoke clears, we all see the blonde ninja standing in some sort of weird karate pose.

"Naruto Uzumaki" He looks at all of us grinning "Is here!"

Everyone stares at him, as the smoke clears, he suddenly grins, throwing an arm in the air.

"Now that I'm here, everything will be alright!"

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaims happily, hands clasped together under her chin.

"Ya know how in the movies the hero always shows up at the last second and kicks butt?" Naruto asks everybody rhetorically "Well, that's what I'm gonna do here!"

He should have stuck with a sneak attack.

"You're history! Shadow clone jutsu!" he cries, looking towards Haku and performing a hand sign.

As Naruto is about to perform his jutsu, Zabuza suddenly flings a handful of shuriken at him making Kakashi's eye widen.

I get Senbon needless from my weapon pouch and throw them at the shuriken with strength, they intercept them, but what surprised us that my Senbon needless weren't the only ones thrown at the shuriken.

Haku had thrown some himself even if they didn't do anything, but why was he saving Naruto?

"Naruto, this is a real battle!" Kakashi admonishes "Not a talent show. Don't just use your Jutsu without some sort of plan!"

"Uhhh…" Naruto replies dumbly.

"Naruto, Shinobis have to be master of deception" I inform him "Always keep you enemy guessing. Even when using one jutsu, distract your opponent to catch them off balance"

"You are basically a sitting duck with that entrance of yours" I inform him refocusing on Haku. Trying to figure out why he would try to save Naruto.

"Aaargghh!" Naruto yells, running his fingers back and forth through his hair "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just wanted to swoop in and save everyone!"

"There's another mystery here though…" Kakashi mutters to himself, referring to Haku's attempt to intercept Zabuza's shuriken.

"Haku!" Zabuza barks in an irritated voice "What do you think you're doing?!"

"….Please Zabuza, I'd like to fight this boy in my own way, if you don't mind" Haku replies calmly, as Naruto clenches his fists.

"Bring it on!" Naruto exclaims, looking determined to kick Haku's ass.

Suddenly the pain hits me, no not now, I fall to my knees.

"Sara" Sensei calls "What's wrong?"

"I-I C-can't fight" I say between clenching teeth, I have on hand on my hand, while the other I reach into my weapons pouch, pulling out a small medicine bottle, opening the lid, and swallowing two pills dry.

"I won't be able to fight" I say panting, the pain decreased, but I still can't fight.

He gives me a nod; I lose focus for the rest of the fight, waiting for the pain to seize, I can't tell what's happening, when the pain seizes to a small headache, I hear birds chirping, I look up to see Kakashi sensei going at Zabuza with his chidori, when Haku throws himself in front of Zabuza taking the hit.

If Haku is here then where is…., I look towards where the dome used to be to see Sakura holding Sasuke and crying with Tazuna standing beside her, I stand up slowly, making my way to them.

"Sakura" I say kneeling on the other side of Sasuke, "I can still save him. put him on the ground and pull the needles one by one slowly while I heal him, got it?" She nods before doing what she was told.

I put my hands over his chests, and a green aura envelops them, I slowly start healing his injuries, there was no heartbeat, for a few minutes there was still no heartbeat, There was some commotion behind me, but I didn't have the strength to focus on more than one thing at a the same time, so I stayed focused on Sasuke.

With still no heartbeat, and I remove my hands from Sasuke putting them in my lab looking down, I was no expert medical Nin, I just knew some basics. It had started to snow then.

Sakura was now holding Sasuke again and crying, when we saw his eyes open slowly.

"Sakura" he said slowly "You're hurting me" she had her hands around his neck holding him close while crying, soon enough it was snowing I look behind me to see Zabuza beside Haku both on the ground dead, I just missed the entire fight because of the stupid episode.

Soon Naruto comes running towards, looking at the now alive Sasuke, I get out of the way, and make my way to where Zabuza and Haku is.

I get what Haku did, giving your life to protect the person you care about, I wish I understood it back then, my sense were all back now, there wasn't even a small headache.

"So is that really it Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asks dully, leaning down and looking at Haku and Zabuza's grave, I didn't ask anyone what happened in the fight, I didn't want to remind them of what happened to me in the middle of battle. "Is it really the shinobi way to use and be used, like tools?"

"All shinobi are tool in the hands of destiny" Kakashi explains "There's no point trying to figure out if it's wrong or right. It just is"

"Well if that's what being a ninja is all about, then something must be out of whack" Naruto says stubbornly "Is that why we go through all this training, just to end up like them?"

"What's the reason for that?" Sasuke asks, causing Kakashi to sigh.

"Well, that's really a question without an answer, and we ninja have to deal with that every day of our lives"

"Okay!" Naruto cries, making us look at him curiously "I've decided on something! I'm finding my own ninja way from now on. A way that's straight and true and that has no regrets! From now on, I follow the way of Naruto!"

Kakashi chuckles softly, as a genuine smile makes its way to my face.

"We could never have finished the bridge without you!" Tazuna exclaims "I can't tell you how much we're going to miss you"

"You guys be careful now" Tsunami smiles.

"Thank you very much" Kakashi replies, waving over his shoulder as we turn to leave.

As we walk away leaving Naruto to say his goodbyes, and he and Inari look like they are the verge of tears, Kakashi takes my attention away; I have been avoiding him since that battle, so he wouldn't ask questions.

"So are you going to tell me what happened exactly during the battle?" he asks

"Am I obliged to answer that?" I ask him with an innocent smile.

"Well you can tell me or I can simply tell the other three that you fell during battle, and you know they won't stop annoying you until you tell them what happened" he told me with a closed eye smile.

"Fine" I tell him irritated, knowing he will probably go on with his threat.

"A year ago, I was doing a standard checkup, when the doctor found out that I have a…" I take a deep breath "…a brain tumor, this pain episodes didn't start till about two month ago" I look at him to see the worried look in his eye.

"So why don't you have surgery?"

"Due to its location, my chance of surviving the surgery is less than 20%, for now all I can do is take two pills of my medicine when I have an episode, it eases the pain" I stop walking, and look at him straight "You can't tell anyone about this, Only the Hokage, and some doctors know about this, got it?" He nods

And I run catching up to the others who were now ahead of us. We continue our journey back to the leaf in peace.


	11. Special no2 A mission with the jounins

**Special No.2**

**Third Pov**

Four jounins stood infront of the old man who had a pipe in his mouth, and was wearing a red and white hat, one of the jounins had grey anti gravity hair, wearing a mask that cover the bottom of his face, and his head band was tilted over his left eye, another was one with a small beard, and was smoking a cigraette, there was another who had black bowl cut hair, and huge eyebrows, the last one was a kunochi with red eyes, and raven black hair.

A knock on the door caused all the jounins to look at it, they have been waiting for the final member, that was going on this mission.

"Come in" said the hokage in his calm voice, the door opened to reveal a 9 year old girl, with black hair that reached mid back, and brown eyes, and tanned skin.

"Sorry I'm late hokage-sama" the girl said bowing respectfully, when she raised her head everyone could see the smile on her face. "That's okay" the hokage replied with his own smile.

The jounins wasnt sure wha a small girl like her was doing here if this was an A-rank.

The girl turned towards the four jounins, "My name is Sara Hiroshi, it's nice to meet you" the girl introduced herself, as soon as she said her name the jounin realized who she was, the Hiroshi prodigy,

"Kakashi Hatake" the silver haired jounin introduced putting his book away, and giving the girl a closed eye smile.

"Asuma Sarutobi" introduced the jounin with the cigraette in his mouth.

"Kurenai Yuhi" Said the kunochi with a small smile.

"Guy Might" said the jounin wearing green spendix, with a wide grin and a thump up, making girl sweat drop.

The hokage coughed graping everyone's attention, "Now that the introductions are over, i think as you have already noticed Sara is the final member of the team for this mission" He rested his shin on his hands "This is an A- rank mission, as you have already been informed, recently some rouge ninja's of different origins have formed a gang that been terrorizing the village's on the border, they steal kidnap, murder, and a lot more, we found their location, they aren't s-rank criminals, but the have the advanteg of number, your goal is to elemenate these ninjas, this mission will be led by Kakashi, any questions?" everyone shakes their head.

"Ok then, Meet at the gates in an hour" Kakashi orders.

**Sara Pov**

We have been waiting at the gates for two hours now, and Kakashi is still not here, i release a deep sigh.

"How much longer?" i finally shout not able to take it anymore, i wasnt the most patient person, i think that's why the hokage put me on this mission, now that i see that i would need patient to deal with this guy's tardness.

"You better get used to it thats how he is all the time" Asuma said with the cigraette in his mouth.

"Are you sure your up for this mission?" Kurenai asks, making me raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"You do understand, that we will have to kill other ninja's on this mission" she states with concern in her voice, i give her a small smile, turning my head and looking at the sky.

"Don't worry I will be fine, i mean i have to deal with that at some point, the sooner the better"

Kakashi then appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Sorry i'm late, a black cat crossed my path, so i had to take the long way" he says giving us a closed eye smile.

"Are we supposed to believe that excuse?!" i ask him with a sweat drop.

"Anyway..." He started to move forward ignoring my question, "...we will be traveling, in the trees using them as cover" he pulled a map and explained what way we will be taking, and we discussed battle formations in case we were attacked.

"Let's headout" he said as we all jumped into the trees, i was at the back with asuma, Kurenai in the middle, Kakashi and guy at the front.

If we kept moving at this pace we should arrive at the enemy's hideout in one day.

When we were a couble of hours away from reaching the hideout, we stopped for rest, and look over at the formations again, we were going to attack at dawn, since we already know that they have some villagers and children, in there our priority was getting them to safety, that would be asuma and kurenai's job, they would sneak in, and sendsignal us using the wireless head set, so Kakashi and guy would create a distraction, so that they can get the innocent out safely, as for me i was supposed to remain hidden unless needed.

we moved at the prick of dawn, putting our plan on motion.

Kurenai and Asuma have already moved, Kakashi and guy are waiting for their signal, i am on Satoshi in the sky, Satoshi is one of my summoning birds, in fact he is their leader, and the fastest among them, and the best at wind ninjutsu.

"That's the plan so better keep your eyes open" i tell Satoshi after, informed him of the mission, the plan and everything, we were flying very high, so that the enemy wont suspect a thing, and since i am small compared to Satoshi, in his current size, i wasn't visible unless i was close, did i mention he can changes size, from small, to sit on my shoulder, to as big as a tailed beast.

"I understand, Lady Sara" he tells me in respectful voice, causing me to sigh deepely.

"It's just Sara" i inform him quietly.

Satoshi keeps his eyes on the scene below while i just sense their chakra's since their is no possible way for me to see from this hight.

I took a good look at the hideout, it was an all earth building, probably built with an extermly advance earth jutsu, the place consisted of three floors upove grounds, dont know how many exactly under, it was surronded, by a wall and a few grounds behind them that was crawling with guards, i keep my self ready knowing that there were too many ninja's for Kakashi and Guy to handle alone, especially if they built a place like this, then they some strong shinopis among them.

**Kurenai Pov**

we managed to sneak into the plac without any ninjas around the hideout to notice us, we decided to search the bottom floors first.

there was two bottom floors, underground, we found the dungeons, on the bottom one, there was about 20 peoble there, along with five guards, i managed to put them under a genjutsu, while Asuma took care of them, we started openeing the cells, and let the peoble out.

"We are ready to go" Asuma said through the headset.

**Kakashi Pov**

"We are ready to go" Asuma informs us through the headset.

"Okay my eternal rival..." Guy starts saying, "...The one that defeates more ninjas wins" great another challenge.

I ignore him and start moving at the ninja guards, at the front gate, what better way to make a distraction than the straight front.

we hid in the trees, right before the gate.

At the gates three guards are standing, three that we can see, atleast.

"Three at the gates" Sara said through the headset, "about 15 on grounds, cant be sure how many exactly inside the hideout"

"Hai" i say "you heard that, guy?"

"Sure did" he said before giving me a wide grin "that means we have enough for our challenge"

"Lets go" i ordered leaping from the trees kunai in hand, killing the three guards easily "thats three for me"

"Four for me, my eternal rival" Guy said already fighting the ninjas coming our way from the grounds around the hideout.

**Sara Pov**

i couldnt see the battle from up here but i was using my chakra sensing ability and my keen hearing, to keep track of the battle, Kakashi and Guy weren't having any problems, Kurenai and Asuma, were waiting for the ninjas inside the buildings, to go after Kakashi and Guy so they can get out with, abut 20 persons i think, that was the number of peoble that was close to them.

Then out of the blue, i sensed 30 more chakras appeare, close to door of the hideout.

"guys, we have got trouble" i said through the headset "Kakashi, Guy, 30 more ninjas heading your way, they just came out of no where"

**Kakashi Pov**

"what do you mean the came out of no where?" i asked through the headset.

"Just like i said" she answered "Maybe a space-time jutsu, do you need me down there?"

"No we better have you where you are now, infrom us of anyt-" i was intrupted by a ninja coming at me with a kunai, they only had the advanteg of number not skill, i easily pushed him back, and slashed his throat, but if they are using a space-time jutsu then, there is someone with skills among them.

**Sara Pov**

i could tell a ninja intrupted Kakashi.

"I really was hoping to fight, not just stay guard" i said pouting.

"Lady Sara, you have to understand that, every role counts not the one that just fight" Satoshi said.

"I know, but it's been a while since i gad a good fight, again?" i said the last word, after senseing, another 30 chakras, and they were stronger then the ones before.

"Another 30 coming at you" i said through the headset

"Again?" asked Kakashi

"Yeah, and there chakra are even stronger"

"Sara, we need this done, use a suprise attack, we need to get rid of them quickly"

"My pleasure" i said through the head set, a smirk on my face, "Asuma, Kurenai i will send some help your way"

"Satoshi, get me down enough to jump then, change size, small enough to sneak, and head to Asuma and Kurenai, help them, i will create an opening for you"

"Hai" he said starting to fly down when i was close enough, i jumped, then formed hand seals "Fire style: fire ball jutsu" i shouted putting my hands to my mouth and shooting a giant fire ball at them, when i was done, i could see i got ten in my attack., i did a flip in air and landed in a crouched position.

I heard a strong birds chirping sound, i turned towads it, to see it was coming from Kakashi's hand, he was using a lightining style jutsu, his original jutsu i heared of it, Chidori, looking cloesly, i could see he was using his sharingan.

i unsheathed my katana blocking a kunai with it just in time, i put some chakra into it pushing him back, before slashing him with my sword.

i look around to see i was surronded, with 5 of them, i stick the tip of my katana in the ground, to make hand seals,"Wind style: swirling wind jutsu" i say spinning in circles, sending wind cutting chakra at them, with hidden senpon needles, i make a few hand seals while i was still spining "Fire style: Swirling fire jutsu" i shout, and the wind chakra with now lit with flames burning all of the 5, i stop spinning, and see that Kakashi and Guy were already done with the others.

I ran at the back of Kakashi, katana in hand, i blocked a kunai that was heading for his back.

He and Guy turned around, to see another, group of ninjas there were eleven shinobis, one stood infront of the others, must be the leader.

"You have fast reflexes for a kid" he complminted me "why dont you join us? and we will spare you, your a kid after all you still have your whole life infront of you"

"Why don't you give up so i won't have to kill you?" i asked him with a smirk.

i ran at him full speed, but he dissapeared from where he was standing, and appeared at the far left, i jumped back avoiding an attack, from one of the other shinobis, i took place next to Kakashi and Guy.

"How did he do that?" i asked

"He's just fast" Guy answered

"No" i said "It wasnt speed, his chakra signature dissapered completely from the spot he was standing in, if your fast, you still leave a chakra trace behind you"

"He must be using a space-time justu then" Kakashi said.

Then i remempered something i read, "The Michi clan, right?" i asked to the leader, taking his figures in he looked in mid thirties, he had green hair tied in a ponytail, he was medium built.

"Thats right kid, the name is Takeshi Michi" he answered with a smirk.

"That clan is supposed to have gone extinct during the last war" Guy said with disbelieve.

"How did you know about them Sara?" Kakashi asked not taking his eye of the enemy.

"I read about them, they had a kekeai genkai, that allowed them to travel just like a space-time jutsu, i even read they found a way for it to be used by other peoble" i answered simply.

"You're a smart kid" Takeshi said "You are right, on everything even the part where about other peoble using it, but it depends on a few things ofcourse, since you are so smart if you manage to defeate me i will you how to do it"

"My pleasure" i said with a smirk, leaping at him raisning my katana to only hit the ground, he used it again, "your going to have to be faster then that" he taunted.

"Kakashi, Guy handle the others leave him to me" i shouted, i was actually having fun, it has been a while since i had faced a strong enemy.

i guess they saw i wasn't going to back down, so they just started going at the other ten, i could sense, that Satoshi, Kurenai and Asuma, were already moving with twenty people following, those must be the last of ninjas in the place.

"What's your name kid?" Takeshi asked me.

"Sara Hiroshi" i answer him simply.

"A Hiroshi, i heared of your clan, a clan that posses the kekeai genkai of light and dark releases, correct?"

"Yeah, so are we just going to talk or are we going to fight" i said runnig at him, swinging my katana he dissapeared and reappeared above me, i jumbed back avoiding his punch, he his hand collided with the ground creating a crater, i wasn't fast enough to keep up with him, he dissapeared again and reappeared behind me, i blocked his punch, causing me to skid a few feat back, i needed to get advantege.

I sheathed my katana and made some hand seals, "Light reflection jutsu" and with that i was invisible to him, unless he was good with chakra senseing, he wouldn,t know where i attack, i ran at him, throwing a kick at his gut, sending him flying into the air, i jumped landing a kick on him while he was in mid air, his body collided with the ground creating a crater, i approched the crater, my jutsu still activated, he was on his knees and hand, coughing blood, i jumped towards him, unsheathed my katana and put it through his stomach, i appeared now holding my katana through his stomach, i drew it out, before sheathing it.

"You're strong kid" he said between breath, "and you are a true shinobi, who can kill without blinking, here is the prize i promised you" he said the last part, his hand going to his weapons pouch, he drew a small glass ball, that had a small dark glow, he handed to me.

"This is for a one time use, put some chakra in it, while thinking of the place you want to go to, and throw it at an empty place, it will open a portal to that place, be careful with it, the portal will have some pulling power, so it will pull anything within a certain range" he explained before he started to fall, i caught him putting him on his back, he was dead.

"You okay?" Kakashi asked standing next to me "Yeah, I'm fine" i said in an emotionless voice, it wasn't the first time that i killed, but i always feel guilty afterwards, i never get used to the idea.

we both get back to the others, Asuma, Kurenai and Guy were helping anyone injured among the 20 villagers, Satoshi was standing by them, now back to his normal size.

The villagers were mostly women and children, but there were a few men among them, i moved closer to them.

"Are you okay, Lady Sara?" Satoshi asked me, concern obvioud in his voice, he knew how i got after battles that i had to kill someone in, "I'm fine" i answere him.

I start helping with healing the villagers injuries, with my small medical jutsus, afterwards we helped them get to the closest village, we started traveling back, when we stopped for the night w were sitting at a clearing, in the woods, non of us has slebt yet, i was now back to my usual self.

"I can't wait to get back to the village tommorow" i said in a cheery voice, my eyes watching the stars in the sky.

"You must be wanting to hangout with your friends" Kurenai said with a chuckle

"I don't have friends" i say my eyes never leaving the stars "Not anymore" i said more quietly, but they heared me anyway.

My eyes dart towards them, seeing the pity in their eyes, even Kakashi lifted his eyes from his book and was looking at me.

"What's that book?" i ask trying to change the subject.

"It's something i enjoy reading" he answers vaguly.

"Can i take a look at it? i love to read too"

"It's time everyone got some sleep, i will take first watch" he said changing the supject just as quickly as i did before, i was going to find out what was in that book, tommorow before we got the village.

The next day while we were walking, on the dirt road, i had figured out last night a strategy to get my hands on that book, i had secretly created a shadow clone this morning, and my clone was now walking with the jounins, while i used my light reflection jutsu, and was walking with them while masking my chakra waiting for the perfect chance, the problem is he was holding the book, reading it, seeing that we were going to arrive at the village soon, and all my chances would be gone, i whispered to my clone, the new plan she walked up to him, and tried to snatch the book from him, which he used his hand to move it out of the way of my clone, giving me the perfect chance to snatch it, which i did, and afterwards broke the jutsu.

"You should have been more careful" i taunted, while my clone poofed away, they all stoped dead in their tracks, i opened the book and started reading one of the pages, i felt my face burn up, i shut the book close, throwing it into the air, "Fire style: fireball jutsu" i said shooting a huge fire ball at the damn book, causing it to turn to crisps.

"Nooooooo!" Kakashi shouted with tears pouring down his eyes

"Serves you right you pervert!" I shouted at him, causing him to give me a death glare, i just continued to walk back to the village like nothing happened, everyone was chuckling, at I and Kakashi.


	12. Chapter 10

**Sara Pov**

I woke up at 05:00 am, like always**, **i always wake up early even on my day off, it has been 3 days since we got back from our 'C-rank' mission, we were given a week off to recover.

I went to the bathroom, and got in the shower, then dd my daily routine, when i went back to my room i had a towel wrapped around me, my room had a queen sized bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and a dresser with some photo frames on it, it had light brown walls, a dark brown wooding flooring, and behind me was a door that led to a private bathroom, there was also a small balcony, i always left it's door slightly open.

I opened my wardrobe, picking something to wear, when a messenger bird flew through the balcony's door, and settled on my desk, there was a small message tied to his leg, the moment i took it he flew right back the way he came in, i opened the letter.

_Meet at training ground 4 at 08:00 bring your ninja gear with you._

_Kakashi_

so here goes my day off, I looked at the clock it was still 6:00, i wore my usual ninja outfit, well same style, different color (AN: pic on side-) When i was done, i put on my weapons pouch, and took my katana in hand.

I went into the hallway, my room like all other bedrooms were on the second floor, i walked to the end of the hallway, and knocked on the door of what 7 years ago was a guest room, I opened the door, the room was just like mine, but with a normal sized bed and no balcony.

"Kohana!" I called gently "Wake up! you need to get ready to go the academy!"

An eight year old girl sat in bed rubbing her eyes, and yawning, she had black hair, and brown eyes just like me, they were clan traits after all.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"It's 06:30" I said, she looked at me now wide awake.

"WHAT?!" she shouted before rushing to the bathroom down the hall, I chuckled at her behavior.

I went down stairs, to the kitchen, after putting my katana at the door, leaning it on the wall, i made some breakfast for both of us, by the time i was done it was already 07:15, Kohana came running down the stairs, her hair was now in two pigtails, and she was waering a sleeveless violet, with black cloth part shirt, with a black skirt, and white black spendex under that was knee length.

"Let's eat breakfast, then i will take you to the academy" i said with a small smile.

"Oh right! If i dont come to take you i will be at training grounds 4, my sensei sent me a message this morning" The moment i said that she perked up, before continuing with her breakfast, i just ignored it.

After we were done eating, we went to the front door, i strapped my katana, and wore my ninja shoes, after Kohana wore her shoes too, i took her hand in mine and flickered us both to the front of the academy.

Once she was inside, i flickered to the training grounds, none of my team memebers were there but there was one person there, he was lying down watching the clouds, he hadnt noticed me yet, so i jumped on a branch quietly, masking my chakra for now.

I didnt lnow what time exactly did i arrive there, but after what i think was about ten minutes, two other genins came, it was Choji, and the blonde girl i saw with them before.

"What are you doing here, forehead?" the blonde girl shouted at Sakura, who just arrived with both Naruto, and Sasuke.

"NON OF YOUR BUSSINESS, INO PIG!" Sakura shouts at her.

"What a drag?" Shikamaru said who started to stand up "We are meeting our sensei here, so can you both quiet down, troublesome women!"

"We are meeting our sensei here too, Believe it!" Naruto said both arms behind his neck.

"I thought i smelled you guys!" said a boy with a dog on his head, with him were two peoble, a boy with dark shades, and Hinata.

What are all the rookie genins doing here?, Did they actually plan this?!

I stayed hidden in the trees for now, waiting for the jounins to arrive, i even used my light reflection jutsu.

"H-hello, N-naruto- kun" Hinata said while fidgeting with her fingers.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Naruto asked ignoring hinata.

"We are here because our sensei told us to meet her here" explained the boy wearing shades.

Then four people appeared in a puff of smoke. Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Hideo-sensei, Should have known he was behind this!

"So everyone's here except..." Kakashi said in a bored tone, looking at the genins "Where is S-"

"Here" i intrubted him jumping from the branch, after i had released the jutsu.

The genins looked at me confused, propably wondering how long have i been up there.

"Good, so everyone's here!" Kakshi said with a closed eye smile.

I stoped to towards the four jounins, avoiding eye contact with the genins.

"What are you planning?!" I hissed loud enough for only them to hear.

"We though you should get to meet the other genins your age" Kurenai said gently.

"And it's about time you reunited with your old friends" Hideo-sensei said calmly.

"Kohana is in on this, isnt she?!" i whisper yelled remempering how she perked up this morning when i told her that i was going to the training grounds.

"So why dont you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi asked looking towards the genins, ignoring me completely.

"We know you guys already know each other, but you dont know both of us" Hideo sensei said pointing at both himself and i. "Well, non of you know me, but some of you know her"

the genins nodded, propably thinking the ones that know me are just my team.

**Third Pov**

"My name is Hideo Hiroshi" Hideo introduced himself, he was a tall man in his thirties, his black hair tied in a short ponytail, and he had brown eyes.

_Hiroshi?!_thought Hinata, Shikamaru, and Choji.

Everyone looked at Sara, waiting for her to introduce herself she avoided eye contact with the genins and just stayed quiet.

The jounins sighed.

"Why dont you guys go first?" Asuma said holding a cigarette between his fingers.

Team 7 went first.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Believe it!" said the blonde hyberactive knuckle head.

"Sasuke Uchiha" Said the black haired, onyx eyes guy.

"Sakura Haruno" said the pink haired, green eyed girl.

Team 8 came after them.

"Kiba Inuzuka" said the boy with the dog on his head, he had a grey jacket, and the distinctive red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks "and this is Akamaru" he said gesturing towards the ehite small dog, who barked in response.

"H-hinata H-hyuuga" said the girl with dark blue hair and fair skin, and the White Hyuuga clan eyes.

"Shino Aburame" Said the boy with dark shades, high collar coat, and dark, bushy, brown hair.

And lastly was team 10.

"Ino Yamanaka" Said a girl with blue eyes, and long, blonde hair tied in a high ponytail.

"Choji Akimichi" said a chubby boy with brown hair, swirl marks on his cheeks, and who was eating chips.

"Shikamaru Nara" said a boy with a dark brown hair tied in a spiky ponytail, and narrow brown eyes.

All the genins except team 7 looked at Sara waiting for her to introduce herself, some just wanting to know, while for three of them, wanted to confirm there thoughts.

Sara just stayed quiet looking at the ground, arms behind her back, she wasnt sure what to do she wasnt ready for this, but she just couldnt keep standing like this forever, she slowly looked up and at the genins, making eyecontact with them for the first time since they came here.

she cleared her throat.

"My name is Sara Hiroshi"


	13. Chapter 11

**Third Pov**

"My name is Sara Hiroshi" Sara introduced keeping an emotionless face, while inside she wished she would dissapear right now, her team already knew who she was, she even reminded Naruto and Sasuke how they used to be friends, but they werent her only friends back then, there was three more, two of them were closer then the others, and she just confronted them after 7 years, most of the genins gaze were no longer on her, but on Hinata who had tears streaming down her cheaks.

"S-sara?!" Hinata asked unbelieveing that infront of her stood her childhood bestfriend.

Sara just looked at hinata a small smile was all she managed, she wasn't sure how to react, she wanted to run to Hinata and envelop her in a hug like they used to, but she also wanted to run.

"Hinata! I'm..." Sara tried to apologize, her eyes drifting to the ground, before going up again, gathering whatever courage she had in her "I'm really s-" she was cut of by Hinata hugging her, sobbing on her shoulders.

Sara didnt react for a few seconds, her face held a shocked expression, she wasnt expecting a hug, when she came back to her senses she hugged her back.

She and Hinata were best friends growingup, both their fathers were heads of their clan that made them friends since they can remember.

"What happened to you back then?" Hinata asked still sobbing on Sara's shoulder "Why did you just dissappear?"

"I'm sorry, Hinata!" Sara said with a small breaking the hug and giving Hinata a smile, which Hinata gladly returned. She used her sleeves to wipe away her tears.

Sara's gaze towards the her other two friends, Choji and Shikamaru.

She met Choji through Shikamaru, Shikamaru was her bestfriend back then too just like Hinata, their mother were close friends that how they first met and became close friends.

Shikamaru had a shocked expression, rather then his usual bored one, Choji was shocked too, he even stopped munching on his chips.

Choji crushed Sara in a bear hug, which she giggled at him, Choji was always the kind easy forgiving type, "Choji, nice to see you too, but i cant breathe" Sara said chuckilng and pattig him on the back.

"Huh?! sorry!" Choji said leting her go and giving her a smile,

Sara looked at shikamaru who just standing in his place looking at her, he wasnt sure how to react to this, he had seen her before, when they runned into team 7 a few weeks ago, but he hadnt remembered her then, even when Sakura said her name, when she looked them in the eyes earlier, It's like all their childhood memories together came rushing back.

"Shikamaru!" Sara called, "I'm so-"

"Why did you leave back then?" Shikamaru asked intrupting her.

Her gaze turned to the ground, the memories of that night playing in her head, in the 7 years, she was never able to talk about it, everytime she tried, the words wont form, it's like she lost the ability to speak.

"I-i...i" she tried but the words won't comeout, Hideo, being her sensei knew that, he thought that maybe incountring her friends would help her to finally say it, but looks like he was wrong.

"7 years ago" Hideo cut in, all eyes turned to him, the genins wasnt sure what was even going on, but was pretty intersted to findout what is going on here, that they all just stayed quiet "Akihiro and Katsumi Hiroshi died".

Hinata, Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto and Sasuke, all looked at Sara, Akihiro and Katsumi were her parents, being their friend at some point they knew that.

"And" Hideo continued "Yoshio Hiroshi went missing"

All five of them, looked at Sara with eyes filled with sadness, even Sasuke, they all knew how close she and her brother was, they didnt know what exactly happened, but they knew now that Sara lost the most importnat people to her, and knew better than to try and findout what happend, at least for now they would stay quiet.

**Sara Pov**

Hideo sensei told them about my parents and brother, the other genins ofcourse had no idea, whose names, he just said, i didnt want any looks of pity, i couldnt take it.

"So what's the other reason you brougth us here?" i asked trying to change the subject, before any of my friends started asking questions. "You couldnt have brought us all here just so i can reunite with my old friends"

I think Kakashi sensei realized my attempts, because he was next to talk.

"Right!" he cleared his throat "We though we would see how strong the new rookies are by having a little spar"

"Spar?" Kiba asked interseted.

"Yes, we thought it might be good for you test your skills against someone else" Kurenai continued

"So who am i going to fight?" Naruto asked excited.

"Actually all the genins are going to fight together agains the same person" Asuma explained.

"Who?who?who?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"All of the genins will be fighting Sara" Kakashi said giving them a closed eye smile.

"Huh?" all the genins including me said in unsion.

"All of the rookie genins, will be fighting Sara!" Kakashi repeated.

"Nine on one!" Kiba said "This is hardly challenging!"

"He's right" i said with a smirk "Do you think they are up for it?"

My comment obviously irritated Kiba, Sasuke, and Naruto, the three of them were glaring at me.

"We will just have to see, wont we?" Kakashi answered.

"Now all the genins on one side, Sara on the other, you get five minutes planning"Asuma said with the cigratte in his mouth.

All the genins went on one side, and I on the other, they were at a distance where I could easily hear them, since I had better hearing then normal, but I blocked it out, wanting to see if they will actually stand a chance.

**Shikamaru Pov**

we were on the other side all standing in a circle, i didnt want to fight Sara, especially, since i know she just tried to change the subject off of her parents, she was clearly upset about it, i just had to ask didnt i, oh this is such a drag.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Sakura.

"Your her teammates, what can you tell us about her fighting?" asked Ino

team 7 looked at each other.

"Not much we never actually saw her fight, all we know she is pretty fast!" Sasuke said

She managed to hold her own strength from her teammates, and as i remember she is a prodigy, but i dont remember her telling me what she excells at exactly.

"What a drag?" I said outloud "we dont know anything about her fighting style, so the best way is to drive her to show us something, here is the plan so listen up..."

**Third Pov**

"Time's up" Hideo announced outloud, the genins broke up, all stood facing Sara who was sitting watching the clouds, before starting to stand up herself, all the genins looked at her, her face held a smile.

"Ready?" Hideo asked looking at both directions "Go!" he announced jumping back taking his place beside the other jounins.

Naruto jumped forward, "Shadow clone jutsu!" he shouted, about 50 clones appeared surronding Sara, she still had a smile, and didnt even look like she cared.

All the clones jumped at Sara attacking her one by one, she dodged hit after hit, with out any trouble, all the genins looked at her with shocked expressions.

"Is that all you got?" Sara asked mockingly "Becuase i didnt even move from my place"

All the genins were suprised at that.

All 50 clones were still there, she hadnt destroyed any, this time they all attacked together, Sara just sighed, and did a one hand seal, a barrier formed around her, as soon as all the clones punches collided with it they were thrown back, hitting the grounds and poofed away.

"Let's go Akamaru!" Kiba shouted, Akamaru barked in response "Fang over fang" he and Akamaru, went at Sara togther aiming to break her barriers, but just like Naruto's clone as soon as they collided they were sent sprawling into the grounds.

"I'm getting bored over here!" Sara shouted "Since you cant even break this barrier, i will remove it maybe it will be more fun!" she said doing a hand seal and removing her barrier.

Sasuke activiated his sharingan, going at her kunai in hand, and just before he could reach her he stopped, looking at her with a smirk.

"Shadow possesion jutsu complete!" Shikamaru said, happy that their plan worked, sara just kept her smile, which worried him.

"Good plan" she started saying "But it wont work on me!"

they all looked at her confused, on how she could possibily get out of this.

Sara just closed her eyes concentrating, before light cloack started surronding her, the light just kept on getting stronger, that the genins were forced to close their eyes, and with the strong light the shadow possesion broke, when the light dimmed out, Sara was gone from the spot where she once stood, the genins looked around, until they all froze in place, all of them even Akamaru had a kunai held at their throats, by Sara and her clones.

"I win!" she shouted, before backing away and releasing the jutsu, and putting the kunai back in her weapons pouch, all the genins looked at her shocked, she defated them, all nine of them and she didnt even break a sweat.

"Good job everyone!" Kurenai said to them "Your plan was actually good!"

"But we lost!" Sasuke scowled .

"We never expected you to win" Kakashi explained, all the genins looked at him and the other genins confused "Sara here graduated when she was 6, she got more experince and skill then you"

All the genins looked at Sara shocked, even her team, who just remembered what she told them in the land of the waves, she just gave them a small smile.

"Then why did you want us to spar against her?" Kiba asked irritated.

"to earn some experience, and even if not all of you joined in the fight, just obserivng, you learn something new" Kurenai explained gently.

"Nee-san!" came a shout from behind, a little girl came running towards Sara.

"Hana school done already?" Sara asked gently, ruffling the girl's hair.

"Yeah, so how did it go?" Kohana asked excitedly

"I knew you were a part of this!" Sara said irritated, causing Kohana to go hide behin Hideo.

Sara's friends looked at her confused, as far as they know she only had an older brother, who they just found out is missing, so why was this little girl, calling her nee san.

Kohana looked at the genins, before running excitedly and standing infront of them.

"Hi, I'm Kohana Hiroshi, nice to meet you!" she introduced herself, and they introduced thereselves in return.

"Kohana, How old are you?" asked Sakura gently.

"I'm 8 and a half!" she answered with a grin.

That them even more, Sara was gone for 7 years only, and last time they saw her she didnt have a little sister.

Sara saw the looks on their faces, understanding what's going through their mind.

she sighed "Me and her arent biologicaly sisters" she answered the unspoken questions.

"Yeah, My mother died giving birth to me, and my father died 7 years ago, Sara took care of me then, so she became my big sis,we were already family anyway, we both belong to the same clan afterall" Kohana continued, guessing why Sara said what she said.

The sun was already setting, they have been here all morning.

"Ready to go home, Hana?" Sara asked "Yeah"

"Okay i will see you later guys" Sara said not waiting for an answer, as she and Kohana flickered away.

"So one of you mind explain what happened?" Kiba asked "how do you guys know her? and whose names that he said?"

"She is our childhood friend Kiba-kun" Hinata answered, suprisingly without stuttering, and with a smile.

"The first two names" Shikamaru said staring at the clouds "the two who died are her parents, and the third one, the one that went missing, is her older brother"

He then turned his gaze to Hideo, "What happened 7 years ago?" he asked him with serious expression, and his hands in his pocket.

"That's for her to tell you when she is ready!" is all Hideo said, before dissapearing in a puff of smoke.

**So here it is vote if you like, and comment please, next up the chunnin exams, who do you think will Sara love in the story? leave a comment with your answer!**


	14. Chapter 12

**Sara Pov**

It has been about a week and a half, since i reacquainted with my old friends and met the other genins, I found later on it was Kohana and Hideo sensei's idea, with the help of the other senseis.

When i looked back at when i told both Naruto ans Sasuke, it wasn't as emotional, propably because was being his usual emo self, and Naruto busy with trainning,

Anyway, since then i have been avoiding running into any of the genins, afraid of any questions they might ask about my parent's death, My team and I have been back on D rank missions for a week now, i have been basically, attending the mission quietly, and leaving as soon as we are done, they were always busy bickering anyway to notice me.

This morning was no difference, i was heading to our usual meeting spot, after dropping Kohana at the academy, i was taking my time walking, that I'm two hours late.

"Hey!Sara!" A voice called, i turned to the owner, it was...what's her name?...Ino right!

She came running at me from inside the yamanaka flower shop, she was wearing an apron above her usual attire.

"Hi" i said with a small smile. "Do you need something? cause I'm kinda of late!"

"Just answere one question" she asked me with a tone that i recoginized as the same one Sakura uses when talking about Sasuke "Do you like Sasuke?" Bingo!

"Nope" i answered simply "Just teammates" who used to be friends "anyway i need to go now see you around" i said while walking away with a wave.

"Bye!" she shouted after me with cheery voice.

I continue walking, if i remeber correctly, i only had one crush before, and i dont think it counts, after all i was only four back then.

"You're Late!" Naruto shouted as soon as i arrive at the bridge, "Youre even more late then Kakashi sensei!" i glance around to see Kakashi was already here.

"Sorry, a black cat crossed my path so i had to take the long way here!" i pulled a Kakashi with a smile, scratching my chin, Sakura and Naruto anime fall, while Kakashi and Sasuke sweatdrop.

"Anyway!" Kakashi said "Lets go we have a few missions to do!"

"Yeah!" Naruto fistpumbed the air "I'm ready for the next challenge, Believe it!"

the next challenge of buying grocery, or babysitting.

we ended up doing some D ranks, which Naruto ended up messing every single one.

First, we had to pull some weeds out of a lady's garden, Naruto pulled all the weeds, alright, and he even pulled all the herps as well, he ended up with a good beating from the lady, and we all got yelled, even Kakashi sensei got yelled at.

Secondly, we had to pull trash from a river, Naruto slipped over, and the current was about to drift him over the edge, when Sasuke saved him.

Thirdly, we had to walk dogs, Naruto chose the biggest, strongest, and bulkist one, he ended being dragged through a mine field.

How he became a ninja is beyond me!

we were walking back through the village, my team looking a little dishevelled, did i forget to mention, that my clone did all my work, i just rested through the entire day, and even read some pages from a book.

Sakura and my clone were dupporting Naruto so he can walk, Sasuke was walking ahead, and Kakashi and I were walking behind all of them.

"Look at you" Sakura sighed "You're helpless Naruto!"

Sasuke nodded, and you could feel the smirk forming on his face even if you couldnt see it. "You're just one big problem"

Naruto growed in response, and ripped himself from myclone and Sakura, i released the clone seeing he can finally stand on his own.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted trying to reach for Sasuke's neck but Sakura stood infron of him before he could, i just let a sigh out.

"If you keep this up i'll finish you off myself!" Sakura shouted with a warning glare.

Kakashi sighed and bowed his head "Guess we're not making much progress on the teamwork thing, huh?" you think, this team is basically a match made in hell.

"THAT'S RIGHT OUR TEAMWORK'S ALL MESSED UP AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF SASUKE!" Naruto shouted.

There goes my eardrums.

Sasuke stopped walking looking at Naruto over his shoulder "YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE!" Naruto finished.

"Not everyone - just you. Face it i'm better and stronger than you are, It's a fact unless you have what it takes to prove me wrong?" he smirked, causing Naruto to give him a cold annoyed stare.

Why did the Hokage put me on this team?

Kakashi and I looked up into the sky and noticed a hawk fly around in circles. he sighed looking back at the genins "Alright guys. Let's call it a day you can beat each other to a pulp some other time. Anyway i have to file my report on this missions" with that he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Whatever, I'm out of here" Sasuke declared, turning away.

"See you tommorow guys" I said as Sakura was running up to Sasuke, i did a hand sign and appeared at the head of the first hokage.

I decided to just relax for today instead of training, i layed down on the first's head, looking at the sky, I have been training hard ever since we got back from the land of waves, with the chunin exams coming up, i needed to be prepared for anything, i was finally going to try for chunin after six years of being a genin.

I just laid down and stared at the sky dropping all my guards, i found this was the only time i ever drop my guard, even with friends i never do it, if i even have friends, i dont think i have time to form bonds with people anymore, too much responsbilties on my shoulder, and i need to do a few things before i die, which with my tumor, could be anytime.

"I was starting to think you no longer came here!" a voice said from behind me taking be my suprise, i sat up and turned around to shikamaru walking towards me, before sitting beside me. "I have been coming here for a week and a half to see you, since you were obviously avoiding me!" he laid down his back his gaze on the sky.

I laid back down, turning my gaze on the sky, "You still remember, huh?" i turned my face towards him.

"That this is your favourite spot" he answered his gaze remaning on the sky. "I'm sorry" he said turning his gaze on me "I shouldnt have asked what i asked"

"You shouldnt be sorry" i said closing my eyes "i was expecting that question to popout sometime. Besides if anyone should apologize it should be me, i was the one that left you guys without even a goodbye"

"so you have been avoiding us, afraid that we may ask about your family" He stated turning his gaze up to the sky.

"Maybe" i answer simply, turnning my gaze to sky as well. he only got half of the truth.

we both just lay there in silent, not an awkard one but more of a friendly one, Watching clouds with him is something i missed for sure. the sky was staring to turn ornage color beacuse of the sunset, i sat up, i needed to get back home.

"You know!" he said sitting up as well, looking at me with a small smile "we all missed you, and you dont have to worry about any of us asking questions, we know you will tell us when you want, and you dont have to apologize for leaving, the important thing you're back."

i was already standing up, he stood up as well.

I cant believe they just going to forgive me like that, maybe i can form a few bonds.

"Thank you" i said with a geniune smile, i didnt smile real smiles as much as used too "See you around then, i should be getting home"

"Yeah me too, my mom will probaly kill me if I'm late for dinner, troublesome woman!" he said, causing me to chuckle.

"You haven't changed much have you?"

"Nope, neither have you"

"see you later" i said dissapearing in a puff of smoke and appearing in my home.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and Naruto shouted at me, even though i was just one hour late, and it wasnt because i was avoiding them, it was because i didnt want to wait for Kakashi.

"Why arrive early when sensei isnt going to be here on time?" When i said that they both quieted down, i think they wished that they did come late, i sat down on the bridge resting my back against the railing, and my gaze on the sky.

When kohana came home last night she told me she ran into my team after i left, she was with her friends, Udon, Moegi and Konoahamru, she told me that those three apparently idolize Naruto as some, super ninja. Anyway she told me that when they were running from Sakura, because Konohamaru said she was ugly and something to do with her haveing a large forehead, he ended up running into some guy, wearing a cat uniform, and with him was a girl with blonde hair tied into four pnytails, Konohamru ended up being saved by Sasuke, and then some guy with red hair and gourd on his back, came and the other two, were frightened by him, and called him Garaa.

When she mentioned Garaa's name i became certain that those three was the sand siblings, i had run into them a few times before on some missions.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and Naruto shouted at Kakashi snabing me out of my thoughts.

"I've nominated all three of you for the chunin exams" he said ignoring those two's shouting "Here are the forms. only fill them out if you are going to participate, come to room 301, 4:00 o'clock at the academy"

"Alright!" Naruto screeches happily. he launches himself at Kakashi and drapes himself around the poor guy's neck.

"And what about Sara?" Sakura asked as Naruto lets go of Kakashi,

"I'm entering too guys" i said with a smile standing up "But Kakashi isnt the one that nominated me"

"Why?!" Naruto asks, i notice Kakashi had already left "Since technically i didnt graduate with you guys, so my official sensei isnt Kakashi, it's Hideo sensei, you already met him remember?"

"Yeah i remember him, Believe it!" Naruto said with a grin, and puttig his arms behind his neck.

"So you wont be joining with our team then?" Sasuke asked.

"WHAT?!" Naruto and Sakura shout.

"yeah, in this exams i'm not part of team 7, actually i'm not part of any team, i'm entering solo" i stated

Sasuke put the form in his pocket a smirk on his face, and Naruto was repeating chunnin exams, propably thinking about out showing Sasuke, Sakura on the other hand looked at the form with an anxious look on her face, as we were all walking away from the bridge, i walked beside her.

"What's wrong Sakura?" i ask in whisper so the other two wont hear us.

"Um, nothing" she says with a fake smile, that i see through easily.

"Come with me" she nods so i took hold of her hand, and tugged her away.

"Where are you going?" Naruto shouted after us.

"I need her help with something, see you guys later" i shout back, as me and Sakura gave them a wave good bye.

when we both stopped we were at a clearing with a small lake, and and trees surronding the place.

"Why are we here?" Sakura asked with a confused look. "I though you needed to relax a bit, since you are all worried about the exams"

"H-how d-did you know?" she asked stuttering a bit "You can say i'm good t reading people" i told her going to sitting at the edge of the lake, she comes and sits beside me.

"You know there is nothing to be worried about, and if your worried than it's better to not join the exams"

"It's just.." She started saying looking down "...I'm never any help, i'm not good at anything"

"Who said you're not at anything? Sakura who was the first one to climp the tree, back in the land of waves, you have talent the problem lies that you dont train enough" i said with a serious tone, I looked ahead at nothing in paticular, realizing it the sun started to set, i stood up, stretcing a little once i did.

"I need to get going" i said with a closed eye smile "i was supposed to meet with Hideo sensei for trainning" but what she did suprised me, she hugged me "Thank you" she muttered "I needed a friend right now" a friend? haven't heard that in a while.

the week went by fast, we didnt get as much missions, because of the exams, i spent most time trainning with Hideo sensei, i finally managed to finish my original jutsu, it takes lots of energy so i can propably use it once.

I was now getting ready, i strapped my Katana and weapons pouch, before teleporting to the academy.

I walked inside, and up to the second floor, to notice that someone had a genjutsu on the floor, to make it seem like it was the third floor, a lot of the people there were gathered around infront of the obviously wrong room, that was guarded by two people, two people that i recognized all to well, even with the transfromation jutsu.

"Izumo, Kotetsu" I whispered to both chunins, so only they can hear me "What are you up to exactly?"

"Just having some fun" Izumo whispered with a grin, "And thinning the herd a little" Kotetsu finished with a grin of his own

"I see, well have fun I'm going upstairs" i said sending them a wave as i went upstairs, whle they ekpt the others busy.

when I reached the third floor, I decided to wait for team7 to come since I didnt sense their chakras with the other rookie genins inside the room.

As time passed, not a lot of people came up, becuase of Izumo and Kotetsu's little trick, I mean seriously if they cant even see past a simple trick like this, than they should just quit the exams now.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted me as he appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hey, your here even before the other three for once" I said with a slight humor, he leans on the wall beside me reading his perverted book. "I think your tardness is contagious"

"I can say the same for you" he Said ignoring my last comment, while his eyes not once leaving his book "By the way what changed your mind?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked a bit confused, "What changed your mind about ignoring the genins?"

I was slightly suprised by the question, "Nothing inpaticular" i muttered i wasn't about to tell him about Shikamaru talking to me.

I let a sigh, as i hear the familier voices on the second floor ,"They're finally here, i was starting to think they werent coming"

"KAKASHI, SARA!" came the shouting of the one and only guy. "LONG TIME NO SEE, SARA!" He shouted trying to capture me in a hug, i side stepped, causing him to fall to the ground.

"It's only been a few month guy" i said with a raised eyebrow "Too long if you ask me! So you're finally going to stop wasting your youth and join the higher ranks?" he replied standing up.

"I guess" i replied, not focusing on him as focusing on the boy Sasuke was facing, i couldnt see the fight ofcourse, but i can hear quiet well, "That's strange" I muttered "What are you talking about?" Kakashi asked his and Guy's gaze turning to me.

"Sasuke he is facing some guy named Lee" i said clearly "but i cant sense any chakra coming from him"

"Lee?!" Guy said before dissappearing in a cloud of smoke, only to hear his voice appear again, at where team 7 is, scolding that Lee guy.

I let out a little giggle escape my lips, Kakashi raises an eyebrow at me.

"Guy is telling them, about your eternal rivalry" I said with a little laugh, his shoulders drop.

after hearing guy dissappear, Lee told them that the top Konoha genin is on his team, than he has no idea about me.

a few seconds later a boy came that looked like...a mini guy?! seriously than I'm sure he is his student, Lee.

Soon after Team 7 came, "Took you guys long enough" I said getting away from the wall, and standing straight.

"well I'm glad you came Sakura" Kakashi said as he stood straight too, "For your sake and the others"

"Huh?" all three of them said at the same time.

"Now you can formally register for the chunin exams" Kakashi continued.

"What do you mean Kakashi sensei?" Sakura inquired. I just went inside the room, leaving as Kakashi explained the rules.

As soon as i entered the room everyone stared at me, before most of them returning to what they were doing, propably thinking i wasnt worth, looking weak and all, but a a few others keep staring, there was the sand siblings, a team of three sound ninjas, one was a girl with purple hair tied in a ponytail, and cruel black eyes, and the other two looked alike green hair, and golden eyes, they were sending hateful glares towards me, and finally a brunette with the famous hyuuga eyes, Neji?! this exams are going to be intersting.

"Sasuke-kun where have you been?!" a voice called i looked towards it to find Ino drapping herself around an annoyed Sasuke.

"You have no idea how much i was hoping you'd show up here! I've really missed those rugged good looks of yours" she added flirtatiously. Sakura growled, before jabbing a finger at the girl.

"Hey you pig! He's mine!" she screeched.

"Miss forehead?! They let you in too?!" Ino cries, jumping down from Sauke's back, i started walking towards where they were standing before leanning against the board, "Still got those big ugly frown lines on your Billboard brow i see"

"Leave my forehead alone!" Sakura demanded, making the blonde girl poke her tongue out at her.

"You guys are here too?" Shikamaru's voice drawled "I knew that these exams were gonna be a drag, but i had no idea they'd be this lame" he continued complaining.

"Lazy as always i see" i said with a slight chuckle, he leaned against the board beside me.

"So all three stooges are here i see" Naruto said chuckling.

"Hey! you know what you little, ugh, I cant be bothered..." Shikamaru trailed off, causing me to sweatdrop at his laziness.

"Hey! looky here. looks like the whole gang's back together again" a smirking Kiba said, as he, Hinata and Shino came towards us.

"H-hi Naruto" Hinata said in her soft voice, she blushed and looked away as Naruto peers over at her.

"Oh hey Hinata" he greeted her off handedly, i walked to her, "He will come around dont worry" i whispered teasingly in her ears, she blushes madly "Sara!" she called.

"You guys too huh?" Shikamaru said "Man. everyone's here for this dumb thing"

I walked away, from them heading for the sand siblings.

"Long time no see guys" i greeted them with a smirk

"Sara!" Temari and Kankuro called looking between me and Garaa, i didnt have any problems with them, but Garaa didnt like me very muche, mostly because the last time we crossed path he wasnt able to kill me.

"Kankuro!" I said looking towards him "I heared that you were bullying some kids in the village!" he gulbed.

"H-how d-did you know?" he said stuttering a bit, they both already saw me kill, they knew i wasnt a person they should miss with, "I have ears every where" i said with a smirk before starting to head back to where the rookie genins were.

"And Sara Hiroshi" Sasuke said to some guy with grey hair in a ponytail, and wearing glasses i didnt know who he was, but i didnt like him, i narrowed my eyes at him, for a slight second, before returning them to normal.

"and you are?"

"this is Kabuto, he is going to show us some information on the other guys, Believe it!" Naruto said to me with his usual loud voice.

"So why were you telling him my name Sasuke?" i inquired "arent we on the same team?"

"Usually yeas, but in the exams your enetering against us, so might as well find how good you are" he said with a smirk.

"Your not entering with them?" Shikamaru asked with slight worry.

"No I'm entering alone" i said simply "do what you want Sasuke but your not going to like it!" i said the last part in a singsong voice, as i leaned on the board agains Shikamaru.

He shows us Lee's info first, if his only talen is taijutsu and he's got Guy as his sesei, that he most got some skills, than he showed us Garaa's info, they all were shocked that he completed a B rank mission as a genin, they are propably going to flib when they see mine.

"And finally Sara Hiroshi" Kabuto said as he applied some chakra to a blank card, when my info appeared and all genins saw it the gasped.

My info was pretty much like this...

_Sara Hiroshi_

_Ninjutsu 10/10_

_Taijutsu 7/10_

_Genjutsu 5/10_

_23 D rank 29 C rank 16 B rank 10 A rank 2 S rank_

A smirk made it's way to my face as i looked at the genins facees, but i noticed that Kabuto was faking his, he looked like he was suprised for any normal person, but when i sense someone's chakra i can tell their emotions if i focus, and no way was this guy suprised.

I looked at Naruto to see he was shaking, before bursting out. "I'M NARUTO UZUMAKI! AND I'M GONNA WIPE THE FLOOR WITH EVERY ONE OF YA!" He shouted, japping a finger at veryone else in the room, i sweat dropped at his behavior, only Naruto would be able to turn every one to hi enemy.

I started walking away, going to take a seat at the back of the class, leaving the rookies behind, not soon after, someone stopped me, catching my arm before i got to the back, i turned around, to find out it was Shikamaru.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright on your own?" he asked leatting my arm go, i turn to face him fully, with a small smile.

"You are actually worried even after seeing my info?" i asked causing him to shrug. "Don't worry, Shika, I wil-" i stopped mid sentence realizing wha called him, i just called him, it was how i used to call him back when we were kids, I looked to see how he reacted he had a smile on his face.

"So i guess we are finally back to friends?" he asked me, i stared at the ground for a few seconds, before facing him , with a closed eye smile, "I guess we are".

There was suddenly some ruckes coming from where the others were standing, we both turned our gazes to them, to see Kabuto on the ground puking, with some sound genins in front of him.

I turned around catching a kunai, that was only a few inches away from hitting my head, i looked at where it came from, to see the other sound genins that was glaring at me earlier.

"You okay?" Shika asked worried "Yeah I'm fine" i said dropping the kunai to the ground.

"Alright you slack faced, idiots, settle down and listen!" a Voice yelled, one that i recoginzed, i turned around to see Ibiki with a group of chunins standing at the door.

"It's time to begin" Ibiki sneered "I'm Ibiki Morino, your proctor and from this moment onward, I'm your worst enemy"

He throwed his arm and pointed at the sound ninja that attacked Kabuto.

"First, you cadidates from the sound! Cut it out with the fighting! Who gave you permission to fight?! Do you wanna be failed beore you've even begun?!" He shouted, causing the sound nins to mumble an bology and some lame excuse, i was just happy no one noticed the kunai the other sound nins threw at me wouldnt want every one to know how skilled I am.

We were now all seated after each person collected a number, I ended up being seated next to some waterfall ninja, and the girl from the sound nins team that threw the kunai, we were seated at the second row next to the walls.

"First rule, each person begins wit ten points when the test begins. The test contains ten question, each question is worth one point. for every question you get wrong one point is subtracted from your ten points, Second rule, this is a team test. whether or not you will continue on will depend on your teams combined scores" I heared a bang, i turned to see Sakura banging her head against the desk."Third rule, if caught cheating by the testing officers two points will be taken away, when you lose all your points you and your team will be asked to leave or forced, The final rule, if you're caught cheating five times or you don't answer any questions correctly, you and your teammates fail" I sensed Sakura and Sasuke sendeing murdeous glares at Naruto who was sweating buckets, Hopefully they realize that they're supposed ti cheat, I mean only an idiot wouldnt have caught to the hint Ibiki was giving...never mind, this is Naruto we are talking about.

"Begin!" as soon as he said it, every one turned the paper scanning the questions, this questions were too hard for a normal genin, ofcourse i wasnt a normal one, i was able to finish the test in record time, as soon as i was done i flipped my paper, and stared out of the window.

Not soon after the exam began, Genins numers was being called, what suprised me was when my number was called, "Number 37! Fail!" the chunin called, i glared at him he wasnt any one i knew, so propably someone who recently became a chunin, maybe on the last exam.

"Excuse me!" I said calmly, all the other genins was staring at me, along with the chunins who did know me, even Ibiki smirked propably wondering how i will react, "You heared me you cheated five times, get out or we will have to force you" the chunin stated with a smirk.

I stood up, shocking most of the rookie genins and chunins, they thought i was going to leave no way!.

"I would like to see you try!" i told the chunin hands on my hips, with a smirk of my own. he came at me, when he tried to catch my arm, i caught his instead, and then with my other arm punched him in the stomach sending him flying back, but not strong enough to destroy the wall or anytihng, he was about to come at me again, when Ibiki stood between us.

"That's enough!" Ibiki shouted before looking at me "If you cheated then you have to go out!" he stated he knows i didnt cheat, because if i did, the only way for me to get caught wa sif i was dead.

"I couldnt have cheated i finished this exam on the first five minutes!" I stated in a bored tone "Then sit down and dont try anything else!" i sat down, and the chunin went back to where he was standing, glaring daggers at me.

After that little accident, i was completely bored, that i ended up sleeping i even missed the tenth question, i never thought that chunin exams would be so boring, Sakura was the one that woke me up, she told me about the tenth question, and how it was a choice whether to take it or not, those who stayed passed, and about the women who bursted through the window, from her discription propably Anko, and here we are on the next day standing infront of the forest of death.


	15. Chapter 13

**Sara Pov**

A breeze hit my face, as I held a smirk on my face, staring forward at the forest of death, 'maybe these exams won't be as boring as I thought'.

I was sitting on a high branch, across from the forest, resting my back against the trunk of the tree.

"This is the place that the second part of the exams will take place in. It's the forty fourth battle training zone, or as it's also known, the forest of death" Anko informed us with a dark creepy grin, making most of the genins fidget.

I felt someone's gaze on me so I turned my head, and my eyes met the eyes of a grass nin, she was a female, but her chakra said otherwise, and there was also something strange about it, but I wasn't sure what it was, the grass nin smirked at me.

I heard Naruto say something, but I didn't bother to focus on what he said exactly, keeping my focus on the grass nin, something with off with her, but I wasn't sure what it was.

"It should" Anko said snapping me out of my thoughts "It's called the forest of Death for a good reason. But you'll find that out soon enough"

"But you'll find that out soon enough" Naruto mocked, I shook my head at his behavior 'Wrong move Naruto, Wrong move!'

"Do you worst" Naruto exclaimed determinedly "I can handle anything you throw at me!" Anko chuckled.

She threw a kunai at him that scratched his cheek, she then appeared behind him.

"So you think you're tough enough to handle this?" She whispered in his ear "Guy's like you are always the ones who leave their blood all over the forest" she informed him cheerily, wiping some of the blood from his face with her finger.

She suddenly pulled another kunai from her sleeve, and whipped around to face the grass Nin, the same one that smirked at me, I narrowed my eyes at the grass nin.

What caught me sight was her long forked tongue, my eyes widened, and I could feel the air getting hitched in my throat, and my whole body tensed.

_-Flashback-_

_My five year old self stared at the white skinned man, as he approached me slowly, I was frozen with fear, staring at his golden snake like eyes, and my small body was trembling as he approached me slowly with a smirk on his face._

_-End of flashback-_

By the time I was paying attention again, as my loosened a bit, Anko was already back to where she first stood.

"This is a consent form" Anko explained "You're all going to have to read over this and sign it before you begin the test"

"Uhh, what's that for?" Naruto questioned 'I think it's already obvious isn't it?'

"Well, some of you won't be coming back from the test, and I need your consent for that" Anko explained "Otherwise I could be held responsible if you die!" she began to laugh like the maniac she is.

"I'll explain what this test is going to entail as your get you forms" Anko continued as I jumped down landing beside Hinata as she passed me a form.

"Hey Hinata" I greeted her with a closed eye smile "Hi Sara" she replied, I immediately signed the form.

"Are you nervous Hinata?" I asked her quietly, she gave me a slight nod "Don't be, if you and your team work together, you guys will be okay" I said encouragingly. "Thank you" she replied softly with a smile.

Anko than explained the rules and our goal, which was to reach the tower in the middle of the forest, after obtaining a scroll from another team, such that you have a heaven scroll, and an earth scroll, and we have five days to finish the exam.

"What?!" Ino shouted, stepping forward "Five days in there?!"

"What are we gonna do for food?!" Choji asked sounding depressed, I sweat dropped, 'Food? You should be asking how you will survive in there, with the man eating animals and creatures'

I saw Shika raise his hand.

"So uh, are we allowed to quit at any point?" he asked hopefully, causing me to sweat drop again "So lazy!" I muttered under my breath, shaking my head.

"Pff. of course not!" Anko answered mockingly "You can't just say oh sorry I quit, in the middle of a battle. Well, you actually could but it'll probably get you killed"

"Oh. Well that's just great" he muttered sarcastically "This is gonna be such a drag..."

"Tell me one thing you don't find troublesome or a drag?" I asked mockingly, approaching him, and standing beside him.

He turned his head towards me before muttering never mind.

Anko went on explaining the rest of the rules.

"Okay, so hand your consent forms in people" Anko told us "In exchange you'll be given a scroll. Once you have your scroll, go and line up behind a gate in the fence okay?" She sighed and peered us at all "And one more word of advice, don't die!"

"Alright, every team now has their scroll" Anko shouted "So head to a gate and when it opens, the test will begin!"

I ended up with a heaven scroll, I stood at gate 35 waiting for it to open, 'I hope the rookie genins will be alright, and I better watch out for that grass nin, if she is who I think, than there might be trouble'

"Alright you little losers!" Anko shouted "The second part of the chunin exams has officially begun!"

The guard opened my gate, and I immediately dashed inside.

After a few minutes of running, I heard a scream, I stopped on a high branch, closing my eyes, and started focusing, on the sounds, and chakra signature, of everything within a ten mile radius from me.

I focused on where the scream came from, and their sensed Garaa's chakra 'Big surprise there', But what got me worried, was I sensed Hinata's team right next to the sand siblings, I started darting to where they were, hoping to make it before Garaa could hurt them.

I stopped, when I sensed them move in the opposite direction of the sand siblings, I let out a sigh of relief, before closing my eye, and starting to focus again, with all the living things here, It required a lot of focus to determine what's human and what's not, and when I find what I want I don't need as much focus to keep track of it.

After a few minutes, I found what I was looking for, and started darting towards it stealthily.

When I stopped I looked down, at three waterfall ninjas walking together, kunai in hand.

They didn't look strong, and their chakras said the same thing.

I quickly jumped down, and sent a kick at the girl's stomach, sending her back to collide with a tree, right before she fell to the ground, I appeared behind her, hitting the pressure point on her neck, and she fell unconscious on the ground, I took cover again in the trees, as her teammates shouted "Emiko!".

They both then stood back to back, eyes darting everywhere, trying to find me, their kunais ready to block me, I waited till I saw a chance, and jumped out, sending a kick to one of the boys side, making dart back, I appeared behind him as well, and hit the pressure point on his neck, for him to fall unconscious just like his teammate.

"Ahiko!" their third teammate shouted, I bent down searching Ahiko's weapon pouch till I found the scroll, I jumped out of the way as the third boy, tried to hit me with a kunai, I turned around ready to leave.

"They are gonna be okay and should wakeup soon" I informed him, before darting into the trees, and started moving towards the tower.

I inspected the scroll I took to find it was exactly what I needed, an earth scroll.

I stopped after a few minutes of running, sensing a strong chakra one that I recognized all too well, I closed my eyes focusing on it, 'I-it's him?! And with him is team 7' I opened my eyes, and started making my way towards them.

The closer I got to them the more I noticed, that there was destroyed trees everywhere, I finally stopped , jumping between, Sakura who was holding Sasuke, and Him, Orochimaru, his neck returning to its position.

"S-sara!" Sakura called with disbelieve, I looked back at her and Sasuke, to see the curse mark on his neck, and the bad condition they were both in, my darted around till the landed on Naruto, who was being held to a tree by a kunai, I than glared straight at Orochimaru.

"Sara..." he said with a chuckle "how nice of you to join us"

I created a hand sign, and a shadow clone appeared beside, she wasn't strong, I needed all my chakra to fight him, my clone darted to Naruto, putting him on her shoulder, before returning to where I was standing.

"Sakura..."I called seriously "Go with my clone, you and Sasuke"

"Bu-"

"No buts go now!" I interrupted her "I can't fight him and protect you at the same time"

"Be careful" was the last thing she said before darting away with my clone.

Orochimaru let out an amused laugh.

"So you're not gonna freeze this time" he said "finally going to show me how strong you really are"

I glared at him, anger and hate boiling inside of me, I was trying to stay calm so I won't lose control, and I was afraid yet angry at the same time.

This snake was the one that destroyed my life, and I couldn't run, or freeze like the last time I saw him.

"What?! Cat got your tongue" he mocked with a smirk.

"Shut up!" I yelled at him with venom in my voice.

**Third Pov**

"Where is he?" Sara asked angrily "What did you do with him?!"

"Don't worry he is alive" he said with a smirk, amusement showing in his eyes "For now"

"Where is he? Tell me or I will kill!" She yelled, no longer calm, no longer in control, her once brown eyes, were now pitch black.

"So your gonna let your kekkei genkai control you" he said with a chuckle "This should be f-"

But before he could finish, Sara appeared in front of him, throwing a punch to his stomach sending him flying back crashing through trees, until he finally fell to the ground Sara appeared in front of him, Dark energy now swirling around her.

He stood up, laughing.

"You really are strong" he said standing straight "even stronger than him"

She attempted to throw a punch at his jaw but he caught her wrist spraining it in the process, before throwing a punch of his own with his free hand at her stomach sending her flying back.

She stood up, the dark energy around her, starting to fade away, as her eyes graded to brown as well.

"So your already worn out" he said "that's disappointing"

Sara was panting, her body exhausted from using dark energy, she cursed herself for losing control, she maybe had one more jutsu, and she had to make it count.

"You should...be honored" she said panting and started making hand seals, not as fast as she usually does them, "You will... be...the first...to experience my...own original jutsu"

"Celestial arrow" she shouted, as light energy swirled around, and her brown eyes, were now golden, and soon after a spirit formed out of the light, holding a bow, the spirit shoot three arrows at Orochimaru who tried dodging them but with no avail, the arrows kept following him, till they hit him, making him fall to his knees.

Sara was now trying to keep standing, she really pushed her limit, and her last attack had an effect on Orochimaru, he stood up.

"You really are the light princess" he said amused "being able to make an offensive jutsu, from the defensive kekkei genkai, I will leave now, but we will meet again soon" he said as he started disappearing in flames.

As soon as he disappeared, Sara fell to the ground as darkness swallowed her.


	16. Chapter 14

**Third Pov**

Team 7 stood with team 10, after the three sound Nins left, and Team guy left as well.

Shikamaru had his eyes narrowed at 'Sara', wondering why she didn't join the fight against the sound Nins. When Sakura's eyes landed on Sara's clone she gasped.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Naruto asked concerned

"S-sara..." She just said, tears forming in her eyes, she was worried since the last time she saw her; she had left her fighting Orochimaru.

"She is right there!" Naruto said pointing at Sara's clone, Sakura shook her head "That's just a clone" she said before looking at the clone "Sara came after you and Sasuke lost conscience, she created a clone to help carry you both to a safe place, but...she stayed to fight him" She said her voice whimpering at the end.

Everyone's eyes widened at what Sakura said, Sasuke and Naruto faced Orochimaru, and he wasn't someone to be taken lightly, Shikamaru was worried, whoever this enemy was, from what he found out from team 7 that confronted him yesterday, so Sara should have been back by now.

"We have to go check on her!" Sakura shouted worriedly; earning her nods from Sasuke and Naruto.

"We are coming with you" Shikamaru said trying to keep his usual bored tone, but failed, both Ino and Choji nodded.

"Let's go!" Sara's clone spoke for the first time "I will lead the way" and she started darting away as everyone followed.

**Sara Pov**

I opened my eyes to find myself in a place with shining light, it wasn't like a room, more like just light, but I still walked like there was normal ground, of course across from was the same thing but instead of light it was dark.

I recognized this place, quite well, it was somewhere inside my mind, I always came here, when I lost conscience from injuries, it used to happen more often, before I joined team 7.

"Been a while" came the irritating male voice, that talked to me every time I was here, of course he was hiding in the darkness "I was starting to wonder, if you will come here again!"

"You make it sound like you like me being injured" I said with a sigh "so where did our conversation end last time?" I crossed my arm sitting on the ground, or light "so when are you going to tell me your name?"

"You never give up do you?" he stated more than asked with a chuckle "Walk into the darkness and I will consider it"

"No thanks, I'm continent with where I am now" this place represented my light and dark energy that came with my kekkei genkai, half-light, half dark, when I researched about this place after the first time I came here, I found out that it came when you almost mastered one of the two sides, and I almost mastered the light, that was when I was 7, but when I tried to find out anything about Yami, that was what I called him since he refused to give me his name, I found nothing, when I asked if he was sealed in me, he never gave a straight answer.

"I noticed that" he said emotionless "Especially ever since you joined the genin team, and more after you reunited with those friends of yours, the light have been getting stronger"

"Really?!" I said surprised "I haven't noticed any change"

"Of course you wouldn't" he said amused.

"Anyway, how are my injuries this time?" I asked, he didn't reply for a little while.

"You have three broken rips, a sprained wrist, and of course, since you used the dark energy, your body is a complete wreck, but you will live"

"Wow, I thought it might be worse" I said shrugging, honestly, I had worst injuries before.

"So, about Orochimaru?" I raised an eyebrow at him "What about him?"

"If he's here, than..."

"He could be here as well" I finished for him, "I know, if he is, I will find him"

"You know you don't have much time left, right?" he asked

"I know" I clenched my fists, as my fight with Orochimaru played in my mind. 'I wasn't able to stop him, and I let him get to me. He was able to run because I couldn't keep my emotions in check'

"You know blaming yourself wont accomplish anything" Yami said, I could never tell with him, sometimes he is emotionless, other times he tries to get me to move into the dark, sometimes he actually cares, consoling, and advising me.

"How long have I been unconscious?" I asked trying to no blame myself anymore, It' wont accomplish anything, and will just distract me.

"Just a night" just then my body started glowing, it was a signal for me to wake up "See you next time"

"Later" and just like that the whole place faded away and I was enveloped in light.

**Third Pov**

Team 7 and Team 10 led by Sara's clone, ended up at the clearing where Orochimaru was supposed to have fought Sara in.

The place was a complete wreck, with trees destroyed everywhere, everyone's eyes darted everywhere trying to find a sign of Sara.

"Over there!" Sara's clone shouted, pointing to a spot at the edge of the clearing, everyone's eyes looked at where she was pointing, their eyes widened when the saw, Sara lying there not moving, they ran at her.

"S-sara!" Sakura stuttered looking at the black haired girl, Her body covered with a few bruises, but what caught her eyes mostly was the cuts she had all over her body, the clone approached her calmly, and took a scroll out of Sara's weapon pouch, she bit her finger and swapped blood on the open scroll.

There was a puff of smoke before two birds appeared, on was a large bald eagle, the other being a normal sized owl.

"Satoshi, Rei" the clone gestured to towards Sara's body on the ground, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"W-who a-are you?" Ino asked stuttering, looking at the two birds especially the large bald eagle.

Right now everyone was surrounding Sara, with Shikamaru, Naruto and Sakura on their knees beside her, Shikamaru on one side, while Sakura and Naruto on the other, the owl approached Sara's head raising a wing and placing it on Sara's forehead.

"How bad is it?" The bald eagle asked concern obvious in his voice; he narrowed his eyes at the Nara, when he noticed he was holding Sara's hand. "Not good, she has three broken rips, her wrist is sprained, and her body and chakra are completely exhausted, she used the Dark energy, until she was completely exhausted, it caused many scratches on her body some shallow, but a few deep" The owl answered.

"Can you help her?" Naruto asked looking at the owl, with worry in his eyes, this was his first friend even if they were only friends back then for a year or so and now she was both his friend and comrade, and she was in this condition because she fought so they can get to safety. The owl examined the blonde before giving him a small nod with a little smile, she couldn't believe her summoner was finally opening up again, the proof was the people around her right now, their faces held worry, and concern and fear of losing her.

"I can heal her, but she will need at least a week rest." The owl answered "She is going to be alright she has been through worse" that made the genins release some of their worry, but not all.

The owl still had her wing on Sara's forehead, she then closed her eyes, "Get back" ordered the bald eagle, they all got away but Shikamaru stayed the closest to her, soon after Sara's body started glowing with a faint white light, the genins gasped as they saw some of the scratches, heal until they were completely gone.

"My name is Satoshi" The bald eagle introduced, he decided that for now he would trust those ninjas seeing that they were worried about Sara, and since he didn't sense any bad intentions from them, "The owl is Rei, we are both two of Sara's summons" The genins introduced there selves as well.

After a few minutes, the light faded away, and Rei retrieved her wing.

**Sara Pov**

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking slightly until they were used to the light, my body hurt, and my senses wasn't in best shape now, but I know there was some people here.

"S-sara?" Two voices stuttered, I turned my head to it, to find it was both Naruto and Sakura staring at me, Sakura had a few tears in her eyes.

I attempted to sit up, but the was a fail, I was just a few inches before I groaned in pain, but I didn't fall, I felt someone's hand on my the back of my head, they started to help me sit up, my eyes traced the owner only to land on Shika, I looked around, to see Choji, Ino and Sasuke was here as well, so was Satoshi and Rei.

"W-what y-you gu-uys doi-ing here-e?" I said stuttering a little bit because it hurt when I talked. "Y-you know it's n-not safe her-re!" I stated stuttering less.

When I was finally setting straight, Sakura tackled me with a hug, "I was so worried" she said muffled, and I felt her tears on my back. Soon enough Naruto joined the hug, with his own tears on my back.

"Losers, you're not helping with her injuries" Sasuke scolded the two members of team 7, and they let go apologizing, they both stopped crying, Sakura gave me a smile, while Naruto gave me a huge grin. I gave them a smile of my own, a genuine real smile.

I could tell that Rei and Satoshi both was smiling at the back, for the last few years my genuine smile became extremely rare, even rarer as the years went by.

I then looked at Sakura and noticed that her pink hair was now short, not even shoulder length, I knew how much she loved her long hair, so I decided it was better not to ask about what happened.

"You really are troublesome" Shika stated in is usual bored tone, but there was a trace of concern in them "You had us worried for a second there"

I didn't reply or comment on what he said, as I remembered something.

"YOU IDIOTS!" I shouted at them "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHAT IF OROCHIMARU WAS STILL HERE?!" they all moved back even Sasuke, I wasn't known for losing my temper, but when I did it was...hell on earth.

I noticed both Sakura and Naruto hiding behind Sasuke.

"Calm down. Troublesome women" Shika said trying to calm me down, he knew how I got when I was angry, it happened a couple of times when we were kids, and it ended up with me chasing him all over the village until I calmed down.

"You better calm down, you shouldn't move too much with those injuries, and you will need at least a week rest" Rei advised me I gave her a nod, letting out a breath and trying to calm myself.

"I-is s-she always l-like this?" Ino asked Sakura trembling with fear. "This is the first time I seen her like this" Sakura answered after she and Naruto was no longer hiding.

"Are you okay?" Shika asked with a whisper, in a serious tone, I could see the concern in his eyes. "I'm okay you don't have to worry" I told him with a smile, It's then I noticed he was holding my arm, and I felt my cheeks warm up a bit, 'I thought I was over this'

"S-so guys?" I turned around to look at team 7 trying to hide my blush from Shika "Do you guys have the scrolls you need?"

"Actull-" Sakura tried to say but was interrupted by Sasuke

"It's not important we can take care of ourselves, you need to see a medic, and you're in no condition to fight!" Sasuke stated.

"Did you get the scroll you need?" Choji asked, I moved my right arm, no longer held by Shika, I was a little sad, 'what I'm thinking?!' to my weapons pouch, and soon enough pulled my two scrolls, they were both fine "Yeah"

"So remains the question of how to get you to the tower in your current condition?" Shikamaru asked.

"That's where I come in" Satoshi said coming closer, "Nara, can you help her get on my back?"

Shika let out a sigh and nodded, he carried me bridal style, and I my face was almost as red as a tomato, he put me on Satoshi's back, I can swear I saw a taint of red on his cheeks.

"You guys better follow me to the tower!" I said looking at all of them; they were all standing side by side.

"Of course, I plan on passing this exam, it's one of the steps to become hokage, believe it!" Naruto said grinning at me.

I gave them all on last smile, holding to Satoshi's feathers, as he spread his wings and soared to the sky, I kept looking at the genins, until I couldn't see them anymore, I turned my gaze to the front of me, beside us Rei was flying as well.

"So you're finally started making friends?" Rei asked teasingly "I was starting to think your becoming anti-social or something" I felt a pang in my heart, remembering how I used to tease Yoshio with that line, but I needed to have hope, I was going to get him back no matter what.

"It's a good thing" Satoshi spoke "You looked happier when you were with them back then"

"I guess so"

Soon enough we landed at one of the doors of the tower, after reading the riddle, I opened the two scrolls, at the same time with the help of Rei, since I was using only one hand, and the other on Satoshi for support.

There was a puff of smoke, and Kotetsu appeared.

"Sar-" he stopped mid-sentence, and his eyes widened when he took in my appearance, "What happened?" he asked worriedly, since I was my skill level was practically jounin, I shouldn't be as much injured.

"I need to speak to the hokage"


	17. Chapter 15

**Sara Pov**

I was following Kotetsu, through the halls of the tower, Rei already went back, but Satoshi stayed with me and was supporting me as i walked.

We finally stopped at a door, Kotetsu knocked, and opened the door for me, when we heard "come in", Kotetsu held the door for me as i walked in, closing it afterwards, Inside was a small office, the hokage sat at the desk and infront of the des stood Anko, who looked like she had a fight of her own, and inside was most of the jounis as well, among them were Kakashi, Hideo, Kurenai, Asuma and Guy, they looked at me with worry, i knew most of the jounins, and they know that i a normal genin couldnt have injured me this bad.

"I guess since all this jounins are here..." i said standing on my own, without any support from Satoshi "That you already know he is here"

The hokage took his pipe out of his mouth, and blowed a puff of smoke, before he closed his eyes and gave me a small nod.

"I take it from your condition that you fought him?" He asked in his raspy voice, with worry. "Yes, i fought him right after he attacked team7"

The jounins didnt react so i they probably knew that, "I take it you fought him too" i said to Anko who sighed and gave me a nod, from what i knew at some point shewas Oroochimaru's student before he became rogue "He told me he was interested in Sasuke, no wondr he attacked him in the forest"

"He gave him the curse mark, but he survived, he and his team are alright for now, i saw them right before i came here" that made some of the jounin's eyes widen, and i could see the relief in Kakashi's eye, that his student is okay.

"How come he didnt take you?" a random jounin asked "we know he was after you"

"When i fought him, i...lost control, and used the dark energy" Hideo sensei's eye widened, "and when i was back to my senses, i used a justu that should have wekaned him for a couble of hours, i thought maybe he will comeback after nightfall, but he probably got caughtup with fighting Anko"

"So, what are we going to do about the exams?" Kurenai asked in concern "we cant possibly continue them under this conditions"

"We cant cancle them!" Anko yelled "He said that if we do he will end the village"

everyone looked at the hokage, waiting for his decision.

"The exams will continue" he announced "we will just have to be on the lookout, and be careful"

"But lord hokage-" Kurenai tried to object.

"We cant cancle them, some genins had already died in this exams, and the other villages wont approve" he explained "everyones dismissed for now"

"yes lord hokage!" everyone in the room said.

I tried to slipp before, Hideo sensei could catch me, but thanks to my injuries i failed, he gestured for me to follow, both him and Kakashi, Satoshi helped me walk after them, we stopped when we were far away from any curious ears.

"So you lost control?" Hideo sensei stated more than asked "how exactly did it wear off?"

"My body couldnt take it" i stated smiling nervously "Let me guess you used your new jutsu?" i noded, and looked at Kakashi who was obviously enjoying this, along with Satoshi.

and all of a sudden i was hit on the head, i held my head in pain "Sensei i'm injured you know"

"Because of your own stupdity" he answered "you know better than to go against someone like Orochimaru, and you even lost control and used your dark release, than used a jutsu, that requires alot of energy"

"You know i was going to go against him evetually" i said seriously "I need to go against him if i want to-"

"I know but you shouldnt be an idiot, you're still not strong enough, you will have plenty of time to against him when your stronger" he scolded

"Really! because last time i checked i was running out of time!" i snapped at him, and covered my mouth with my hands when i realized what i said, he didnt know about my condition.

"What did you say?" he asked confused "Nothing..."

"What did you mean you were running out of time?" he asked crouching to my level trying to look me in they eye, while i just looked away.

"I think you should go to your room in the tower and rest, you will need your strength for the rest of the exams, you can talk after we this exam finishes" Kakashi intervened "Kotetsu is probably at the hokage's office he will show you to your room" i nodded and started walking away with Satoshi for support.

"You were going to have to tell him eventually" Satoshi said to me when we were away from the two jounins "I know, but i was trying to avoid it, i shouldnt have snapped at him"

"Not many people could go through what you went through as a child and survive, but you always try to keep your problems to yourself, trying to always be strong, but sometimes you just need someone else to be the strong one, that's why i always advised you to make friends, true friends will be there for you when you do need someone to keep you from breaking"

"Maybe" was all i had to say in return, it wasnt the first time he told me this after all.

"First off, I'd like to congratulate you all for finishng the second exam!" Anko called out, sending us all a grin.

I looked around glad to see all the Rookie genins made it, others that made it were Kabuto's team, Garaa's team, two sound ninjas team, encluding the three who cant seem to stop glaring at me, and there was also Neji's team.

We're all standing in rows, facing Anko, the hokage, Ibiki, a group of chunis, and all the team leaders, including Hideo sensei, who i havent talked to since i snapped at him.

Satoshi was hasnt left my side, even right now he shrunk and was standing on my shoulder.

"Lady Sara" Satoshi began "You realize that number of people that passed is too many?"

"I know, which means they will probably hold a preliminary round to cut the numbers to half" i whispered bback ignoring, the genins chats "You should quit if they do, Rei said you would need atleast a week rest, you're in no-"

"I will be okay" i interrupted him "You know i never quit or back down, and I'm not starting now, i will be okay, and one more thing you wont fight with me"

"What?! but-" he tried to object "It's either you watch with everyone else, or i release the summon jutsu and you dont get to even do that"

"Fine, lady Sara" he gave in, by the time Hayate interrupted the Hokage.

"Excuse me lord hokage" He said slowly "but please allow me to say something first. I am the proctor of the third exam, Hayate Gekko"

"So be it" The hokage replied.

"Nice to meet you all" he drawled, he coughed before continuing.

"There's something...cough, cough...That i need to tell you all before the third exam" he wheezed.

"Uhh...we kind of have to have a preliminary round before the actual Third exam" Hayate informed us, almost hesitantly.

"Just like we thought" i whispered to Satoshi

"Please reconsider continuing with the exams?" He pleaded with worry in his voice "You know I'm too stuborn for my own good, and i need to stay in the exams if i want to protect, the village and maybe finde out Orochimaru's plans" he sighed at my response.

"Ahem, so anyway" he began "If any of you dont feel that you're in top physical condition, now's your chance to quit..." he trailed off, coughing again.

"Sorry about that" Hayate apologized "Like i said, anyone who doesnt feel up to it should leave now. The preliminaries will begin immediately"

The only one ended up quitting was Kabuto, and i reall didnt care about him unlike Naruto, my gut told me this guy was bad news.

"Alright, the preliminary round will begin" Hayate announced "These will be one on one fights and they will not be an exercise. they will be full battle intensity. As for rules, well, there are none"

"This battle will end when one of the cadidates is killed, concedes defeat or is physically incapable of continuing the fight. Ofcourse, those who are losing are encouraged to concede to avoid a fatal ending"

"Ofcourse, as your proctor" he continued, coughing in between "I may interven in a fight if it seems hopeless, to save as many lives as possible. Now, it's time to reveal what destiny has chosen for you." Hayate turned to one of the walls, as a panel slided, reveling a computer screen.

"Each person has been matched up with an opponent, completely at random" Hayate explained "Every match will be displayed on the screen up there. As there is nothing left to say, let's begin"

Everyone peered at the screen, worried they will get picked first.

Everyone's names begin flashing on the screen quickly, until the computer decided on two names.

my eyes widened when i read it.

**_Sara Hiroshi_**

******_vs_**

**_Masaru Michi_**

I could tell,that the jounins who knew about the mission, were suprised as well 'What the hell?! i thought that guy was the last one!'

"Will Sara Hiroshi and Masaru Michi come forward?"

"Good luck, Sara!" Naruto said to me as i mad way to the front.

Infront of me, was the sound ninja, from the two twind that kept glaring at me,

"Alright, everyone else please make your way to the upper balconies to watch the match" Hayate instructed.

"Dont push yourself" Hideo sensei advised as he walked besied me. "yes sensei" he made his way to the balconies

"You realize whose last name that used to belong to?" Kakashi asked as he stopped beside me. "I do, I will be careful dont worry"

he made his way up as well.

**Hideo Pov**

I noticed how Sara was shocked when the screen declared the first match, I wasnt sure why, she wasnt the type to care if she went first or last.

Kakashi had whispered something to her, and she replied to him.

I approched him when he made his way to the balconies.

"What was that about Kakashi?" i asked the masked jounin as we stood our eyes on the fighting area.

"This wont be an ordinary match" he replied quietly, I raised an eyebrow at him "Should i worry?"

"Not sure" he mumered "you know about three years ago, i met Sara on a mission, it was to get rid of a group of rogue ninjas, Sara was the one to kill their leader"

"So?" i asked confused "The leaders name was Takeshi Michi" my eys widened when he said the name."So that means..."

"That he could be here for vengance" he finished for me.

my eyes landed on Sara, i was worried about her, she already looked in a state that shouldnt be fighting, and if this genin was here for vengence, than this could get messy.

**Sara Pov**

I was staring straight at the genin infront of me, 'i should have noticed that he looked exactly like Takeshi, now he was probobaly here for vengance.'

he glared at me, and groweled at me. i kep an emotionless face, everyone was already up watching us, waiting for the match to begin, i wasnt in best shape, and my wrist hadnt fully healed, so that would affect how fast i can make handseals, or how strong i throw a punch with my left arm, and wth my injured body i wont be as fast as i am usually. As for him he was a Michi, from what i read and from experience, they tend to only use taijutsu, ofcourse, leaving their chakra, for their space time ninjutsu.

"Satoshi" she called the eagle, who understood and took his place on the railing watching from the sidelines.

"Ready?" Hayate asked looking at both of us i gave a slight nod, while Masaru smirked and nodded.

"Begin!" Hayate shouted as he jumped back.

We both didnt budge, but kept staring at each other in silence.

"You will finally pay for what you did!" Masaru barked at me throwing some kunais, i easily dodged, but it was a distraction, he was then in front of me sending a kick to my head, i crouched, pushing his other leg, but he dissapeared before he could fall.

Naruto was cheering loudly in the back, but i ignored him, as i stood up trying to locate Masaru.

I jumped into the air avoiding, the punch aimed to my back, where he appeared, he threw a couble of kunais at me, before appearing above me, and aiming a kick, i blocked it with my hands, but it still send me sprawling to the ground, i ended up hitting the ground.

I stood up slowly coughing some blood, the impact normally wouldnt have caused much, it wasnt that storng, but right now neither was my body.

Masaru stood infront of me with a satasfied smirk on his face, he wasnt planning on killing me quickly, he was going to make me suffer first, and that was his mistake.

I was finally able to stand, i looked at him, keeping an emotionless face.

**Third Pov**

"You know i expected more from the person that killed my father" Masaru stated dryly, making some of the genins gasp "Especially considring all the rumors about you, and the mere fact you're in some bingo books. The all famous Light princess"

He then appeared infront of Sara aiming a punch to her stomach, she back flipped, but winced slightly, becuase of her wrist.

"Why dont you fight back princess, too afraid?" he taunted "i wont get the satsfiction of killing you if you dont fight back"

In less then a second he was behind her, kunai in hand aiming, to stap her in the back, she jumped back, but he appeared again, and stapped her in the stomach, he withdrew the kunai and punched her in the wound, she skid back, but when she stopped fell to her knees, putting her arm to her stomach wound.

The leaf genins gasped, the leaf jounins were worried, knowing Sara wasnt the type to get hit easily, so her conditiond most be bad.

"You're pathetic, how someone like you ever killed my father i will never know"

Sara released a small laugh, making Masaru confused, along with everyone else.

"You know" she started saying looking at him, with black eyes instead of brown, she started standing up "You shoud have killed me when you had the chance" she smirked at him, as Dark energy swirled around her and she started making hand seals "Becuase now you die!"

"Pain easining jutsu" she said once finished with the hand seals, and she no longer felt any pain, the justu only lasts a few minutes but that was all she needed, she didnt mean to lose control, but right now, she wasnt strong enough to stay in control, and with the blood loss, she lost it.

Hideo was almost ready to jump in and stop the match.

she made a few hand seals "Dark style: a maze of darkness" as soon as she said, all Masaru could see was darkness, it was one of the simple genjutsus that Sara knew.

Masaru was looking around frantically, Sara smirked drawing her Katana, and moving slowly at him, her katana scrtaching the ground.

when she was infront of him, she aimed her katana for his heart, but Masaru was able to dissappear last second, having broken the genjutsu.

But breaking the genjutsu took it's toll on him, so he was only able to appear on the other side of the arena.

"Congrats" she said turning to face him "you were able to escape this time"

all the genins were quiet, even the loud Naruto, the heaviness of the air, did that to them, the dark chakra rose around Sara more and even stronger.

Hideo's eyes widened the battle was getting more dengerous by the minute, Satoshi also knew how thiswas starting to get out of hand, but their were nothing they can do.

Masaru on the other hand despite everything, was still aiming to kill her at any cost even his life.

he appeared in front of her with a kunai, and their weapons clashed, he semmed to be struggling in mainting his grip, but Sara stood unfazed, with a smirk.

"You know I'm a ninjutsu user" she stated "but i only get to use ninjutsu from time to time, since no one ever forces me to have to use it, and you are totally not worth it" she pushed him back and appeared behind him sending kick to his back, that threw him to the front, she appeared again infront of him throwing a punch to his stomach, sending him into the air, she appeared infront of him, sending a chakra infused kick, into him, he eneded up hiting the ground and forming a crater.

he stood up slowly, before he realized it, Sara's sword went through his stomach, she pulled it and was about to hit him in the heart.

when her sword was a few inches away from his chest, she stopped her sword, as the dark energy faded away, her eyes regaining their brown shade, she trempled slightly, while Masaru fell back unconcious.

Her eyes widened, at what she was about to do, and how she lost control again.

the whole place was in silent, because of the tension in the air.

"The winner of this match is Sara Hiroshi" Hayate declared breaking the silent, the medic rushed to Masaru, while Sara stood there looking at the ground.

Masaru's teammate and twin, was now even more furious, this girl had killed hi father, and hurt his brother, and he would do anything to kill her.

**Sara Pov**

'i cant believe i lost it again it was just..."

"You go Sara!" Came the loud cheer of Naruto, I turned my head to look at him suprised that he was still cheering even after he saw what i did, he was sending me his famous grin, i couldnt help but smile back at that.

Before i knew it i felt like my body was on fire, and i started falling to the ground, but someone caught me before i hit it, the last thing i remember was voices calling my name, but the darkness surronded me.

**Third Pov**

All of a suddon Sara started falling to the ground, but Hideo caught her before she could hit it.

"SARA!" called Naruto, and Shikamaru, as they made their way down, she was unconcious by now, the leaf genins were worried about her, especially Sakura and Hinata.

the medics came and took her away, as they tried to staplize her, her pain jutsu had worn off, and during the entire battle, her stomach wound had been bleeding, and using the dark energy didnt make it anybetter.

Hideo was following her as Satoshi laneded on hi shoulder, both of them worried for the young kuonichi.

"I need to tell you something" Said Satoshi once they were in the halls and infront of the surgery room, where Sara was "It's something she has been hiding"

The jounin was now confused and worried, about what Satoshi was talking about.


	18. Chapter 16

**Hideo****Pov**

I was sitting next to the bed where Sara laid.  
I rested my chin in my intertwined hands, thinking about what Satoshi told me.

_-flashback-_  
_"What are you talking about exactly?" i asked Satoshi concerned, Sara was the type to hide if she has a problem she didnt like to have someone worry about her._

_"I think you already thought about it" he said "especially after what she said before, you must have noticed how for a short time, before she joined the genin team that she was becoming more and more distant"_

_"I did notice but i thought it was because she was getting a lot of missions, I thought she was just tired, thats why i talked to her about joining one of the new genin teams so she could slow things down a bit, what exactly has she been hiding?" I was trying to keep my usual tone, but it was hard when my student could have been facing something and i failed to be there for her, even if she thought she could face it alone._

_"She would kill me if i told you this" he said releasing a sigh "and she have been holding herself up till now, but she is still a child, and if she breaks she will need someone to be there for her" he looked me in the eyes "A year ago she was diagnosed with a brain tumor" my eyes widened in shock, and my mouth hanged open, "the surgery doesnt have a high chance if sucess, it's less than 25% actually, and if she doesnt have the surgery i think you know what i'm saying" he finnished._

_My face still held a shocked expression, i couldnt believe what i was hearing, Sara was going to die, and she hid it, and i couldnt believe i didnt try to figure out what was going on with her, even though i knew if she was facing trouble she wouldnt tell._

_My fists clenched, and i gritted my teath, she was only 12, 13 in a few days, and she carried this all alone, like she always does, she worries about everyone, and tries her best to make sure no on worries about her._

_"Who knows?" i asked relaxing a bit, trying to regain my calmness "Who else knows about this?"_

_"The hokage, a few doctors" he replied "And Kakashi"_

_"She told Kakashi!" i asked suprised that she would tell him and not me "Not by her free will, she had an episode on the mission to the land of the waves, and on the way back , he gave her the choice to tell him, or he tell the other three about her episode, so she told him, and made him promise to not tell anyone"_

_"episode?!" i asked confused "yes, it doesnt happen very often, but she sometimes gets a strong headache that ends with her in pain, she has medication that ends the pain in minutes, but during those minutes she is in too much pain to do anything, even after the pain goes, it takes her a while to get back to her full strength"_

_-end of flashback-_

I couldnt believe it, she hid alot before, but i never thought she would hide something like this, and now with Orochimaru here, she is being pushed overthe edge, and like Saroshi said, she is just a kid.

"what are you doing here?" I asked the person that just entered the room, it was just Sara, him and I.

"Came to check on her" Kakashi answered "the doctors said she was stable now, but it has been three days and she still hadnt woken up"

"You should have told me the moment you found out" i said clenching my fists

"What are you talking about?" he asked leaning beside the window, on the wall on the other side of the room, i hit the wall beside me "Dont act like you dont know, i'm talking about Sara's tumor. the one that's going to kill her"

"If you know that she told me, than you know she made me promise to not say a word about it" he said looking seriously at me "She's just a child, Kakashi! she always thinks its best to not make anyone worry about her, she might be holding herself now, but at somepoint she is going to be hit by reality, and then what? i should have known maybe i could have found a way to help her"

"You know that i dont like it either, but i havent been sitting around, i have done some research, her best option is lady Tsunada, of the legendry sanin" he informed me quietly "Ofcourse the difficulty lies in finding her and convincing her to do it"

"You do realize no one knows where she is" i said settling down "I just want her to be okay, and you know it wont be that easy with Orochimaru running around"

"I know" he said his eyes turning towards Sara

**Sara Pov**

"Didnt expect to see you here so soon." Yami said to me once i opened my eyes to the light dark place

"yeah, i guess should have quitted that fight afterall, i never thought i would actuallt be too weak to stop my kekei genkai"

"what would be easier is to learn to control it, but you're too afraid to even try" he taunted me "I'm not afraid, but you more than anyone knows that i dont have enough to try and control it"

"It was once your dream, wasnt it? i remember when you were a child, you wanted to master it, didnt you?" he stated more than asked "Yeah i did, but i was a kid who thought nothing could go wrong, i was a kid who thought everyone she loved will always be there for her, and i learned the truth the hard way"

"You really confuse me" he started saying "most humans in your case would seek revenge, like that Uchiha, but you dont, even when you went against Orochimaru you were angry, but you didnt hate him, and you only fought him to protect the other three, but for what ever reason you left your friends before, and your goal is to find your brother, to protect your clan and village, how can you not carry any hate or any wante for revenge after what happened to you back then?" he asked but i just stayed quiet thinking about he said, we both stayed quiet for a while.

"You're right" i finally said "most people would seek revenge, they would spend their lives hating, but what would that do? when i left my friends seven years ago after the incident it was because i thought i was too weak, that if they stay my friends and someone hurts them to get to me like Orochimaru did, i wouldnt be able to protect them, i thought they were better off without me"

"as for my why i dont hate, it's because it's a waste of time and effort, time and effort that i need to protect my clan, to find my brother, to make sure everyone i care about is okay before i die"

My body started to light, signalling that it was time for me to wake up.

"I guess it's time for me to wakeup" i said a smile on my face "hopfully you would trust me enough with your name before i do die" he didnt reply as everything faded in a strong light.

I blinked slightly, as my adjusted to the light.

"I know" i heared a voice say, one that sounded familier.

I tilted my head to my left to see Hideo sensei, and then i tilted it to my right to see Kakashi.

"Hey" i said to both of them with a smile as i attempted to sit up, but winced slighlty, i looked down to see that i was wearing a hospital gown, but i could feel the injury i had on my stomach.

when i had sat up proboably, i looked at both of them, as my smile was replaced with a frown, "what's wrong?" i asked confused, i could see from the looks both of them had on their faces that they were talking about something important right before i wokeup.

"Good to see your awake, Sara!" Kakashi said giving me one of his closed eye smiles "I think i better leave both of you to talk" he moved outside closing the door behind him, i looked at Hideo sensei confused. I saw in his eyes guilt.

"Sara!" he started closing his eyes, before turning and openeing them to look me straight in the eyes "I know, and you should have told me" I wasnt shocked, i knew he would eventually find out especially after the last time i snapped at him.

"But also I'm sorry" he continued and i was confused to why he was apologizing "I'm your sensei and i failed to notice what you were going through i should have been there for you but i wasnt"

"It's not you're fault you shouldnt apologize, i didnt tell you because i didnt want you to worry"

"But that what you always do, you try to protect everyone that you sometimes forget about yourself, everyone will be fine, but sometimes you need to worry about yourself instead of everyone else" he sighed "Kakashi told me he has done some research, and he thinks if we get lady Tsunada to do surgery you would have better chances"

"I know!" i said, which shocked him "I searched through all the possibilites and she is my best option, but she isnt the easiest person to find, or convince, or atleast from what i found out"

"We wont know till we try" he told me with a smile, which i easily returned with one of my own.

the door then opened to reveal Sakura and Naruto, Sakura held me in a tight hug, "I really appreciate the concern and all, but i cant breathe, and my injuries arent helping either" she broke it, apologizing.

"See you later " Hideo sensei said as he left the room.

"Sara! i made it to the next exam too! and so did Sasuke, Believe it!" Naruto shouted with his wide grin.

"So what exactly happened after i fainted? and what about the third exam?" i asked

Sakura and Naruto told me about everything that happened, I frowned when they told me about Hinata and Neji's fight, and about Garaa's fight, who defeated Guy's student, and he was injured badly and might not be a ninja again, they told me that Lee used five of the eigth inner gates, which i had to ay was impresive, I thought that Guy was probably blaming himself.

"So who am i facing?" i asked, they both looked at each other with a frown.

"The last match" Sakura started saying with a frown "Was between the twin of the guy you faced his name was Yuu Michi, he went against his own teammate but she quit before the match even started, and your facing him in the third exam, which is in less than a month"

"Sara" Naruto said with seriounes in his voice "Did you really kill their father?" he asked i looked at him with no emotion, depating on whether to tell them or not, i finally closed my eyes and nodded.

"But why? why would you do something like that?" Naruto asked confused and shocked, i could see the shock on Sakura's face too.

"It was for a mission" I started saying trying to choose my words "He was the leader of a group of rouge ninjas trerorizing the villages at the border of the land of fire, i was sent with a few other ninjas to get ride of them, and so we did i didnt know that he had kids" I finished, but before they could say anything else, the door opened to reveal, Hideo sensei, and Kakashi, both of them frowning, withem was a doctor.

"Sakura, Naruto you should both go now we have something important to disucuss with Sara!" Kakashi ordered both of them they both relecuantly nodded and leaved.

The three adults looked at me.

"Miss Sara" the doctor started saying, "Their is no easy way to say this, when examined you when you were injured, and checked your tumor, it has grown, and i am sad to say this but you might only have a few more month to live"


	19. Chapter 17

**Sara Pov**

You know the feeling when you cant breathe, or like you suddenly lost your voice? That was how i felt at that moment, it was like time stopped, i just held a shocked face, not finding the strength to even fake my expressions.

I didnt glance at Hideo sensei or Kakashi, neither did i glance at the doctor i kept looking down at my hands, i didnt know what to do.

The room was quiet, too quiet I couldnt stand it, i was thankful when the doctor coughed, and started to speak again.

"Your injuries on the other hand are healing quiet well, you should be out in a couple of days, but you shouldnt train for another week, you are body is fatugied and in despreat need for rest, I'm sorry for the news, and hopefully the surgery will be a success" with that he left, leaving me in another silence still staring at my hands.

"Sara, It's going to be okay the surgery will work" Hideo sensei said, putting a hand on my head i glanced at him, to see that he was giving me an assuaring smile "You have got to have faith, isnt that what you always say?"

I gave him a smile, trying to forget it, trying to focus on other things, like the fact that i still have other things to finish.

"And you dont have to face it alone" Kakashi spoke putting his arm on my shoulder "You have friends now, who worry about you, and will be their to hold you"

"I guess a lot of things changed in a few month" i said quietly.

"I need to get going, Kohana have been restless this few days" Hideo sensei said, ruffling my hair, as he left.

"I better get going too, i'm already late" Kakashi said, as he made a hand sign he gave me his signature closed eye smile before dissapearing in a puff of smoke.

I turned my gaze to watch the clouds through the window, it was one of the few things that got me to relax, and forget my worries.

'I see your taking the news quiet well' a voice said taking me by suprise, i looked every where in the room to see it was empty, and i didnt sense any chakra signs in it but mine.

'You know I'm in here, right?' the voice said again, once i recognized it, my expression changed to one of shock.

'Yami?!' I thought shocked 'Glad to see you recoginzed my voice'

'But H-'

'I always had the ability to do that' he stated interurupting me 'I just chose not to do it until now'

'why now? what changed?'

'Got bored, and since your the only person i can talk to, that i would entertain myself a little, So what are you planing to do? especially since your now short on time'

'I'm not sure, Orochimaru is here, which gives me a chance to find where _he _is'

"Sara!" a voice called waving a hand infront of me, interrupting my conversation with Yami.

I turned towards the owner and gave him a smile.

"Hey, Shika!" i greeted him as he took a seat on the chair on the left side of the bed.

"You had me worried their for a second, what got you so deep in thought?" he asked, while i just shrugged.

"Thinking about the exams" I lied "Sakura and Naruto stopped by earier and told me what happened, by the way congrats, on passing, they told me all about your fight, nice startegy!"

"Yeah but now i have to train for the third exam, it's such a drag!"

"Seriously could you tell me one thing you dont find a drag or troublesome?" i asked jockingly

"There is one thing" he mumbled "But I'm not telling you not yet"

"Why not?" i asked pouting, and acting like a child, something i havent done in a long time.

"How did you to say it?" he said with a smirk "Where is the fun in that?"

"touche!"

"So when are you getting out?" he asked in his bored tone, looking at the clouds through the window "The doctor said in two days, but i cant train for another week or so" I said turning my gaze at the clouds too.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern in his voice, i turned to see that he was looking at me worriedly, i gave him a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine" i answered, but he didnt seem to buy it.

"I am not sure what happened to you in the last seven years, or what exactly you're trying to hide right now" he stood up and took seat at an empty space on the bed beside me, "But I'm here for you if you need someone to talk too" he had put his arm on mine, holding it.

I didnt know what to say, so i gave him a smile of appreciation, which he returned with a smile too.

"Someone is eavesdropping" I whispered to him "More than someone actually"

He stood up quietly and opened the door to the room, and four people fell into the room, It was Sakura, Naruto, Choji and Ino.

"what do you think your doing?" Shikamaru asked in his bored tone.

"we were just ahhh" Naruto started saying trying to think of an excuse.

"We just wanted to check on Sara" Ino answered smiling nervously, whle the other nodded agreeing.

"And the reason you eavesdropped was?" i asked

"Look at the time" Sakura said rather quickly "Good to see your okay Sara, bye" with that they all ran out of the room. Shika shook his head while i just sighed.

"I better get going Asuma sensei is probably looking for me" he said in his bored tone

"You ran from practice didnt you?" i stated more than asked

"See you later" he said ignoring me and leaving the room.

'defiantly not alone any more' I thought, smiling to my self.

'you have got that right' Yami said

The next day, i got out of bed, after a lot of time wasted trying to convince the nurses, that seemed to appear when ever i tried to get out. But i finally got to them after promising that i was going to visit some friends in the hospital as well, afterwards i asked for directions to Hinata's room.

when i reached it, i knocked on the room, whe i heared her say come in, from outside i could sense that she wasnt alone.

And with her in the room, was her team, and Kurenai.

"Hey guys" i greeted them with a smile "How are you doing Hinata?"

"I'm fine" she answered in her quiet tone "How are you doing? i mean you were in a critical condition"

"I'm okay, been through worse" i answered.

"Good to know. you had alot of people worried" Kurenai stated

"Oh congrats Shino heared you made it to the next round!" he just gave me a nod in return.

"I better get going" i said while i was leaving, i was hoping to talk to Hinata alone maybe catch up, so i will try to come by later.

I was making my way back to my room, when i felt the familier Chakra of Guy, so i stopped at the room he was in, their was three other chakra signature with him, so he was probably visiting his student.

I knocked on the door, and enetered when i heard a 'come in'.

"Hey Guy!" i greeted with a closed eye smile. i looked around to see Lee that was like another version of him but younger laying in bed, Neji was leaning on the wall and he was narrowing his eyes at me, and their was a girl with her hair in too buns, that looked at me confused.

"Hey Sara! so the power of youth is helping you recover" i sweat dropped at his youth comment, and ignored him turning to Lee.

"You're Lee right? my name is Sara Hiroshi nice to meet you" i said with a smile "Nice to meet you too"

"You should be glad you know, your the second one"

"What do you mean?" he asked raising an eyebrow at me, if i hadnt met Guy before, i probably would have been creeped by the size of his eyebrows.

"The second one to survive Garaa, the people he faces usually end up dead" i said seriously.

"Who's the first?"

"That would be me"

"Y-you faced him before" he asked suprised, the girl with the buns gaped too "Yeah i did, trust me it's not easy what so ever, he was one of the few oppenonts that i actually had to escape to survive"

"But still, in the condition I'm in" he started saying with sadness in his voice "I think i would rather be dead"

"Naruto told me about what the doctors said, but you know sometimes you have to keep a little faith, and you might just change it, trust me when i say i know what your going through" He looked at me with a sad smile.

"Thank you, miss Sara" he said to me with a strong voice "No need for formalities, just Sara will do"

I heared a little whimper, i looked to the side, to Guy, with anime tears pouring on his face.

"I cant believe how youthful, your words are Sara, thank you for encouraging him to have faith!" he said with the tears streaming

"You're welcome?" i said and it came out as a question, soon enough Lee joined his sensei in and they were both hugging i sweat dropped at the exchange.

"Umm dont mind them they're always like that" The bunsg irl said smiling nervously "I'm Tenten by the way"

"Sara, and its okay i already knew Guy, ijust never though i woul see someone act like him"

"Try being on the same team as them" she said with her shoulders down.

I could still feel Neji's glare on my back, so i turned around to face him.

"It's good to see you again Neji" i said emotionlessly, trying to fight the temptaion to hit him, for what he did to Hinata.

"Cant say the same" he anwered emotionlessly as well, the others were looking between us, confused.

"You guys know each other?" Tenten asked

"Used too"

"But you dissapeared" Neji stated

"And you became a jerk" I replied before turning to the others "It was nice meeting you both, i should get going" i tod them with a smile as i made my way out, and walked back to my room.


	20. Chapter 18

**Sara Pov**

"NEEEE-SANNN!" Kohana shouted as she tackled me with a hug as soon as she enetered the room, "Iwassoworriedaboutyou,butHideosenseithansaidyouwerestable,butyouwereunconciousforthreedays,andwhenhetold meyouwokeupiwantedtovisitbuthesaidyouneededyourrest,andthatwewillvisityoutoday,sinceweweresupposdtogetyouanywaysinceyouwillbereleased!"

"I'm fine no need to worry, so slow down a bit!"

"thats how Kohana is when she is worried, she is hyper all the time, but when worried, it's almost impossible to understand what she is saying, but I'm used to it by now." I whispered to Shika who was with me, evading Asuma yet again, although when i asked him he ignored the question so i took it as a yes.

"She is like a female Naruto" He stated with a sweatdrop "I see now how come your so calm, while still being on a team with Naruto"

We both just laughed at that, When Kohana started pushing him out of the room.

"Out now!" she ordered pushing him "she needs to get changed. I brought you some cloth, they are in the bag beside the bed, and the choker is in it too, but the katana is back home"

she then closed the door behind her, leaving me alone, i chuckled to myself at her behavior.

I took the bag and got into the bathroom, I took a quick shower, then wore the outfit she had brought me, it was a simple red sleevless blouse, with a grey skirt that reached , and knee length grey ninja boots, and then tied my mother's choker around my neck, it was the last gift she ever gave me, it was something that was passed down, in our family mother to daughter, she got from her mother, and i got it from her, along with my katan that was the last gift given to me by my father, they were my most important possesions.(AN: outfit on the side -)

I went out of the room to find Both Kohana and Shika talking, or more of Kohana annoying him, and him muttering 'troublesome', i giggled at both of them, catching both their attentions.

**Kohana Pov**

As soon as i heared a giggle, i turned to see nee-san, dressed in the outfit i brought, what caught my attention, was how Shikamaru was looking at her.

Sara always told me about her time with her friends before the incident, and from what she told me i could tell she was more carefree, and happier than she is now, and lately i have noticed she was happier than before, maybehe has something to do with that.

"So onee-san, i need to get going I'm told Moegi i would meet her!" i said with a grin, before running away.

**Shikamaru Pov**

"So you want to go watch some clouds?" i asked in a bored tone, i was hoping she would agree, ever since we both met again, a few weeks ago, i have been thinking a lot about her.

"Yeah sure, we could go to your spot this time" she ansewred with a smile as we started making our way through the hospital halls.

"I think it would be better if we go to your spot, Asuma senseidoesnt know about it, so he wont be able to find me"

she giggled, "ok then"

we started making our way there, when we where on the cliff above the firsts head, we jumped down to it, before we both layed down there in silence just watching the clouds.

"You know you will have to train sooner or later" she said breaking the silence "I think i choose later, It just a drag anyway"

"Your still not going to tell me about the thing you dont find a drag?" she asked, i turned my gaze on her examining her features,as she looked back at me, I wasnt sure exactly how i felt about her, so i just shruged, she sighed returning her gaze to the cloud filled sky, a few seconds afterwards i did too.

"So this was where you were hiding?" A voice said from behind us, making me jolt up. i turned around and sure thing Asuma stood infront of me, hands in his pockets smoking a cigarette.

"You didnt think you can actually evade me all day, did you?" Sara held an amused smile, as she watched both of us, "Glad to see you out of the hospital Sara, Sorry but i will have to break up your date" he said with amuesment

my cheeks was now tainted with a little red, and i could see so was Sara's, but she then replied back.

"so when is yor next date with Kurenai?" she asked him with a smirk causing his cheeks to yurn a little red, i couldnt help but smirk as well.

"Anyway, lets go Shikamaru" I stood up waving to Sara as i followed Asuma.

**Sara Pov**

'Me and Shika on a date?! why would he say something like that i mean we are just friends' i thought as i laid back down after Asuma and Shika left, i stared back at the sky.

'you're not fooling anyone, kid' Yami said with a little chuckle 'It's obvious you have feelings for the boy'

'shut up!" I thought back, i wasnt sure how i felt, but one thing for sure, that i dont have time for a relationship, especially with the big chance of me dying, it will only end up hurting the person i date.

'Keep making up excuses kid' Yami mocked 'It wont work in the end'

'i cant have a prive thought can i?'

'Nope'

I started standing up, and made my way through the village till i reached the village gates, i made my way through them and to my clan compound, it wasnt very far from the village gates.

when i reached, i saw the usual two guards guarding the main gate, i greeted them as i made my way inside, i walked throught the streets grreting the people i met on the way, consisted of houses, with the our clan symbol on the walls surronding same symbol, that hang on my choker.

This was my family, my responsbility, i was supposed to be next leader,after my brother weas taken, but what will i do as a leader if i die.

By the time i maded to my house, the sun was already setting, i entered the house to find it empty, so Kohana was probably still on her way.

I made my way to my room, before climping to the roof through the balcony, i hugged my knees to my chest watching the sunset. i let out a sigh.

"I know your there, so do me a favour and come out" i said as Garaa walked from behind the chimney."Do you want something?"

He didnt answer but his sand was slowly making it's way around, my wrists, and neck.

"This again, i dont know why you want to kill me so badly i never did anything to you" his sand didnt go far, as a small light armor covered my body and pushed his sand, he growled in frustration.

"Why do you let him take control? i mean it's your body not his?" i asked tilting my head to the side, his face was now emotionless, but i could see the shock in his eyes, i just gave him a small smile, turning my head to watch the sunset.

"you know?!" he asked in a montone voice "But you are not afraid?"

"why would i be?" i stated more than asked my gaze following the setting sun "i found out about him the first time we met, i sensed his chakra radiating from inside you"

"You ran away the first time we met, so why arent you running away now?"

"That was two years ago, and at the time i was going home from a mission, and i wa tired and wouldnt have enough strength to survive if the one tail decided that i was going to be his next victim"

"ONEE-SAN! I'm home" Came the shout of Kohana, i turned to see Garaa dissapear in a swirl of sand.

'You're crazy! you just went against an unstable jinshuriki, and you didnt even weaver'

'I guess i'm just weird that way, and besides i'm dying i dont think anythink can scare me now'

I thought back as I made my way back into the house.

I stretched and yawned as i wokeup early the next day, looking at the clock it was still five in the morning.

'Oh shit! it's today isn't it?'

'You couldnt have slept a little longer? i was enjoying my sleep!' Yami growled at me 'what got you freaked out in the morning?'

'today is my birthday!" i though back looking down 'and your freaked out because?'

'for someone who spent most of my life with me you dont know a lot of things about me, i dont like to celebrate it, but Kohana ends up doing something'

'You're a ninja try evading her for the day, and you got the advantage you're up early while she is still asleep'

'yeah, yeah'

with that i got up did my daily routine, and wore my casual outfit seeing as i cant train, and made my way out of the house before she woke up.

I decided to eat breakfast at ichiraku or something, i was walking down the path to the village, the birds was singing, and the wind was flowing through the trees, i smiled, i loved Kohana all the time, but this time of year was the best.

When i reached the gates, Kotetsu and Izumo were asleep as usual, i made my way through the streets, the peoble was starting to wakeup now, and stores were starting to open.

When i finally reached Ichiraku i entered to see Naruto with a guy with grey hair that somewhat looked familiar, setting on his right.

"Good morning Naruto" i greeted him , taking seat on his left, he turned from his bowl and slurped a noodle, and swallowed before smiling a wide grin.

"Goos morning Sara" he replied before going back to his bowl.

"Sara, good to see you again, havent seen you here for a while" Teuchi greeted me with a smile.

"It's good to see you too, i was busy with missions and all"

"What can i get you?" he asked "A miso ramen please" he turned around and started cooking.

I turned to Naruto to see he was on his seventh bowl.

"I never thought i will live to see the day you wake up this early Naruto" i told shaking my head, the guy with the white hair leaned to Naruto's ear.

"Is she your girlfriend?" he whispered quietly.

"No I'm not" i answered, i looked at the guys face till it clicked "Your Jiraya of the legendry sanins right?"

"Told you i was know" he told Naruto with a huge grin.

"You really know pervy sage?" Naruto asked suprised

"Yeah i read about him, he is of the three legendry sanins, you call him pervy sage?" I asked tilting my head to the side, he just nodded while eating his ramen, at that moment a bowl was placed infront of me, i took a pair of chopsticks, and started eating.

"I guess it does fit him" i said after swallowing, causing Jiraya to pout "you do write those books Kakashi reads all the time"

"Who are you anyway?" he asked me, while i was eating "Sara Hiroshi"

"The light princess?!" He said as soon as he heared my name, "Yeah that's me but just forget the stupid nickname"

"I better get going nice seeing you Naruto, and meeting you Jiraya" i said after i finished my bowl, i left money on the counter and started walking the streets, that was now filled with people.

**Kohana Pov**

I woke up straengly at an early hour today, i yawned and rupped my eyes, i looked at the calendar on my rooms wall, and perked up as soon as i saw the date, a wide grin spred across my face, It was Sara's birthday, she didnt like to celebrate it, but i always had a plane that ended up with her clebrating, every year, it's just her, Hideo sensei and i, sometimes her grandpa joins us, but he is always busy, and i think he doesnt even care, but this year its going to be big i better get started.

**Sara Pov**

I was laying down in my favourite spot, for three hours now, usually i would use my time for training but i cant because of my stupid injuires.

I finally got up, and was made my way to the busy streets of konoha, was the final exam approching, people have been coming from all over to see it.

While i was walking i saw Sakura say someting to Hinata's team.

"Hey guys" i greeted them with a mile, they all froze, before Hinata smiled nervously "H-hey-y Sa-ara!"

"Sorry, but we need to get going we were um.." Kiba started "Going to train" Shoji finished in his usual tone, as they walked, no ran away.

"What's up with them?" I asked Sakura who was smiling nervously, she just shrugged.

"I need to get going too, mom wanted me to buy her some stuff" with that she left me alone too, i sighed and coninued walking.

after a few minutes, i saw Hideo sensei with Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai.

"Hey!" i greeted them, they stopped talking and looked at me.

"Hey Sara!" Kakashi greeted with a closed eye smile "sorry but we need to get going we are running a little late" they all nodded and left, all but Hideo sensei.

"does this have something to do with anything Kohana might be planning?" I asked him , he just shruged and started walking away.

I was starting to think this is one of Kohana's plans after all.

**Shikamaru Pov**

"It's her birthday today?!" i asked Kohana who was talking to Ino, Choji and I, i was suprised, and shocked i totally forget it was today

"Let me get this straight" Ino started saying, "It's her 13th birthday, and she doesnt like to celebrate it but your going to throw her a party anyway" she nodded

"I already told Naruto and Sakura, Sakura said she will tell Hinata's team, and Naruto said he will tell Sasuke, and Hideo sensei said he will tell Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma, we didnt invite Guy, Last time we did, he ended up turning the party to one of his eternal challnges with Kakashi"

"So will you come?" she asked us with hope in her eyes

"Yeah!" Choji and Ino agreed, I just nodded.

"Yes!" she shouted jumping up and down "You know where our house is Choji?" he nodded "Great it's at seven, and here is what is going to happen.

"What's you plan on getting her Shikamaru?" Ino asked me with hands crossed "Maybe you should tell her how you feel" I blushed at her suggestion while she smirked, Choji was munching his chips as we made our way to the shops.

"I agree with Ino, you should tell her how you feel" Choji stated between biets "It's not like that guys"

"What ever helps you sleep at night!" Ino said rolling her eyes.

"I will meet you at the party" i said as i walked away and left them, I had no idea what to get her as a gift, back then she liked simple stuff, she always said that its the thought that counts.

I sighed, when a stand caught my sight, i was a stand that sold jewlery.

I stopped at it looking at the different jewlery, until one caught my eyes.

**Sara Pov**

It was almost six and i was running out of things to do, it was like the village was against me, i didnt know what Kohanas plan would be this year, and somehow she always got me to fall for it, i swear that girl would be a great strategist with all the plans she manages to make.

"Oi, Sara!" a voice called i turned to see Shika approching me, hands in his pocket.

"Hey, Shika!" i greeted him with a smile, "Running away from training again?"

We both started walking side by side, he sighed "Not today, Asuma sensei gave me the day off"

"where were you heading anyway?" I asked while we were both walking.

"To your place actually." he replied making me frow my eyebrows in confusion. "I though we could have a game of shoji"

I nod "yeah we could but i think i want to avoid my house today"

"well we cant go to mine, my mom wont stop yelling at me, troublesome woman"

i chuckle at his comment, before realization hits me. 'So basically i can go with the flow, or run away and Kohana's hard work will be for nothing.'

'i dont think it will hurt that much to attend a party' Yami thought back with a sigh.

'it's decided then'

We walked the whole way to my house talking about random stuff, the sun had already set, and the sky was now filled with stars, when we reached the house i could already sense everyones chakra inside, this was going to be the biggest birthday party i had in years.

"you know dont you?" Shika asked before i could open the door to the house.

"Yeah" i said with a small smile "Lets just go inside wouldnt want her hard work to be wasted"

after we went inside and i closed the door behind us, we mad our way to the living room.

"SUPRISE!" everyone shouted, i acted suprised and gave all of them a smile, as fake as it is.

"Thanks guys!" i said once they all settled down, they all were giving me wide grins, and smiles, the senseis minus Guy were in the back.

"So what do you think?" Kohana asked standing infront of me, with a sparkl in her eyes, i smiled "I think its amazing" i said as i ruffled her hair.

"Time to open presents, then we will bring the cake" she stated pulling me to a chair.

each person gave me his/her gift. Hinata bought me a Charm braclet with a charm of the kanji for light hanging from it, Sakura bought me a Hair pin with a an white rose and a white rose charm, Ino bought me a star charm and and a pair of earrings with a star hanging from each of them, Kurenai gave me a book about genjutsus, since she knew i was trying to get better in it, Naruto bought me a new kunai set and Konoha's sympol charm, Sasuke bought me a new senon needles set, and the uchiha sympol charm, Choji bought me a bowl charm, Kiba bought me a dog charm, Shino bought me a book about insects and a beetle charm, Asuma bought me a book about wind justus, Kakashi bought me a new empty bingo book for me to fill, Hideo sensei, bought me a charm for my katana, Shikamaru bought me a cloud charm, and Kohana bought me a canary charm.

"Their is still one last presesnt" Kohana said with a grin, as she gave me a wrapped box, i opened slowly, and looked at what was inside with a shocked face.

It was a silver with golden swirls flute, i picked it up, and admired it, "You play the flute?" Ino asked, i gave her a nod with a smile.

"Yeah, but i hadnt played in a while"

"Hideo sensei told me that you used to play, so i thought that this will be the perfect gift" Kohana told me with a grin.

"Why dont you play us something?" Kurenai suggested, and everyone agreed, i looked from them and back at the flute.

"I dont know, like i said i havent played in a while"

"Give it a shot!" Shika encoraged me.

"Yeah Sara you used beautifuly" Hinata told me with a smile.

I sighed and nodded, I stood up, and bought it to my mouth, and Started playing (AN: the video on the side just the flute-)

I last played this song, when my mom taught me it, and as i played it, memories of my fifth birthday passed through my mind, it was the last birthday with my parents.

_-flashback-_

_"Happy birthday to you!" as my family finished singing, i blowed the candles on the cake, after wards i gave all of them a closed eye smile, as they all smiled at me, it was my parents and my brother, but they were the most important thing to me._

_"Present time, than we eat the cake!" my mom declared, with a grin, she had long black hair that reached her waist, and choclate brown eyes, with a kind expression on her face._

_"Here you go kiddo" my dad said as he gave me a katana "Wow!" i said as i admired it._

_"And this is for it" my brother said as he gave me a charm with a moon and tied it at the hilt of the Katana._

_"Thank you thank you!" i said jumping up and down, while hugging both of them._

_"Ofcourse my gift will be better" my mother declared with a giggle "Now close you eyes" i did just that as i felt her arms at my neck._

_"You can open them" she said, i opened them and she gave me a mirrior i looked in it to see the choker she always wore around my neck "Mom are you sure?"_

_"Ofcourse, it's tradition this choker is passed on from mother to daughter, i got it from my mother and now I'm giving it to you"_

_"Thank you" i said as i hugged her. "Now..."_

_"Cake time!" me and my mom shouted in union._

_-end of flashback-_

I put the flute down as i finished the song, i didnt cry, but i couldnt bring my self to smile, that was one of the last memories with my parents.

"That was..." Sakura started "Amazing believe it!" Naruto finished with a grin

"You really do play beautifuly, Onee-san!" Kohana said as well before clapping her hands, everyone told me how beautifully i played, and how amazing it was, i gave them all a fake smile, so i eouldnt ruin their moods.

"Cake time!" Kohana announced as we cut the cake and everyone took a piece, everyone then strted making the conversation with someone.

when they were all busy i slipped to the back garde sitting at the wooden balcony with my feat touching the grass, i put the cake on my left and straed at the beautiful sky, with the memories of my parents playing in my head, a usual person would be crying right about now, but not me, i havent cried in seven years, it was like my tears dried up.

"Mind if i join you?" Shika asked from behind me, "No" was my simple answere as i continued to stare at the star filled night.

"You still play as beautiful as ever, even if i dont understand any of the music stuff" he said staring at the night sky too "Their is one more gift though" he said as i saw him pull something from his pocket. he took my hands in his "Here!" he said as he dropped a necklace in it, i examined it, it was a simple silver chain with a star and moon hanging in the middle, it was beautiful "Thanks Shika!" he just shrugged.

"It was nothing, i saw right before i ran into you in the village" he said scratching his cheek that was a little red "It reminded me of you"

"It's really beautiful thank you" i thanked him again with a genuine smile my first for the evening.

we stayed there talking about random stuff, i even laughed a few times.

"Sara..." He started saying looking at the ground "There was something i wanted to tell you"

**Shikamaru Pov**

"Sara..." I started saying avoding eye contact "There was something i wanted to tell you"

'I think i better tell her how i feel, but i'm afraid that if she doesnt feel the same i would have lost her as a friend'

"What is it?" she asked a little confused, but with smile a real one, i noticed that most smiles eh gave was fake, but when i gave her the necklace, she smiled a real one.

"I wanted to t-" I started but was intrupted by Naruto.

"their you are" he started saying "we were looking for you most of us are going home we wanted to say bye"

"One second" she told him as she trned to me "what were you going to say?"

"Nothing lets go, i think i should be heading home too"

**Sara Pov**

Everyone has left even Hideo sensei went home, Kohana already went to bed and i laid in mine, thinking about what Shikamaru wanted to say, he sounded serious, but then he said it was nothing.

I sighed and closed my eye as i drifted to dreamless sleep.


	21. Chapter 19

**Guys I am posting this story more frequently on wattpad if you want more close updates**

**Sara Pov**

Two weeks passed, and i was finally able to train again, Hideo sensei helped me with training, i learned a few new light justsu, which was something i havent done in a while, i guess being on a genin team gave me more free time than i thought.

We also wprked on my dark energy, i was better at controling it, i didnt lose control over it as much as before, i even learned a few new dark jutsus.

In those couble of weeks, i became friends with both Tenten and Lee, i visited Lee in the hospital, and kept him company, i visited Hinata too, who i found out has a crush on Naruto. I even spent some time with Ino and Sakura, I havent talked to Neji at all, but the other guys were too busy with training i didnt see them at all.

Today i had the day off, and i was making my way to Naruto's room in the hospital, he fainted from exhaustion, which for Naruto wasnt something new.

I was walking in the hospital hall, when i heared the faint sound of sand, i stopped in my tracks, and focused on it, before running to Lee's room.

"Ya know what?!" i hear Naruto's voice shouting, as i entered the room "You're sick in the head"

"Yeah. you're crazy" Shikamaru agrees.

I saw that Garaa was caught in Shika's shadow possesion jutsu, Garaa's eyes dart to me, when the two see that, they turn their eyes to me as well.

"You know glaring wont doanything Garaa" i told him humorly

"You're the other person i want to finish" he said monotonely

"I should have expected you would come after Lee" i said as i moved from the doorway, and stood beside Shika.

"You met him?!" Shika asked shocked, i nodded "He tried to kill me two years ago, and he still tries too"

"Do you really think we're just gonna kick back and let you do what you want?" Shika asked him sharply "Yeah right you selfish psychopath..."

"If you dont get out of my way, I'll kill you both too" Garaa informed Naruto and Shika.

"Oh yeah?!" Naruto challanged "Lets just see you tri i-oof!"

Naruto is interrupted by a jap in the gut from Shika.

"Garaa, i told you before" i said in whisper appearing beside him, in a blink of an eye "Dont let him control you"

"We saw you match with Lee" Shika stated with a smirk "So we know you're strong. but we have a few tricks up our sleeves. we held back during the exams you know"

My eye turns to the sleeping Lee, Garaa's sand was still creeping around Lee.

"Besides" I hear Shikamaru continue "its three against one. you should just take my advice and get out of here"

"I'll say this again" Garaa growled "Get in my wasy, and I'll kill you"

"And i'll say this if you try and hurt my friends i will kill you" i told him as i made a hand sign, and a light shield appeared above Lee, preventing the sand from reaching him.

"He can act like a demon all he wants" Naruto declared "But i've got the real thing in me!"

Garaa looked up, as Shika gulped.

"My upbringing wasnt exactly a happy one" Garaa drawled "To make sure that i would be among the strongest of ninja, my father cast a jutsu on my unborn self, sealing a sand spirit inside of me. I destroyed the life of my own mother. I was born a monster."

Shika and Naruto were shocked and scared.

"It's name is Shukaku" Garaa continued "And it is the living incarnation of an old sand village monk, who had been sealed inside a pot of tea"

"That's definitely a demonic jutsu" Shikamaru muttered "But to use it on an unborn baby? Man that's just creepy..."

'You're boyfriend over there is going to get it if he doesnt shut up' Yami said

'Not now'

Shika suddeny smirked.

"Wow, you're dad must've been a great guy" He said sarcastically "He must've loved you a lot"

"Love?" Garaa asked "Dont measure me by your standards. Love and Family? the only kind of ties i have with my family, are the ones I'd love to wrap around their necks. Ties of hate. As i was given life by the death of my mother..."

'the jinshruki really likes to play the role of the tragedy' Yami stated with a chuckle

I rolled my eyes.

"Lets get one thing straight Garaa" I gowled as he finished talking "Harm the people i care about and you wont live to see another day"

My eyes were now black, and i didnt lose control, iwas getting ready to use my dark energy if needed, and my eyes turning dark, is one of it signs, like when i use light energy my eyes turn golden.

'Making bonds are we?' Yami taunted i just ignored him.

Garaa's sand suddenly pulled itself up into the air.

Ofcourse he was till caught in Shika's juts, but controling his sand doesnt reguire his hands, just like i can control my light without hands.

Garaa's eyes widened, a crazy, blood thirstiy look in them, as two pillars of sand raced towards Naruto and Shikamaru.

In a second i was infront of them, i made a few hands seals quickly "Light barrier 2nd stage!" i said as a two layer light barrier formed around the three of us, blocking his sand, I stand still infront of them, this barrier requiered the user to remain still.

Before anything else happended, a voice made sveeryone pause.

"Alright, that's enough!"

We all looked up, only to see Guy.

"Save it for the finals tomorrow" He advised, walking over to us "You're just wasting your talent in here!"

I dropped the barrier, falling to my knees panting hard, as Garaa grabbed his head with both his hands, looking pained.

"You okay?" Shika asked keeling beside me with a worried look "Yeah" i told him with a tired smile "I just learned this jutsu, and it requiers me to stay completely still, so still need to work on that"

"Just you wait..." He warned coldly "I'm going to kill you all..."

With that, he exited the room, Naruto stared after Garaa looking deep in thought as Shika helped me up.

"So where are we going?" I asked Shika who was dragging me through the streets. He sighed "Mom asked me to bring you to her, when she found out we were friends again!"

Like i said before my mother and Shika's mother were best friends.

We walked through the streets, with him still dragging me.

"Hey guys!" Ino greeted us as she came running towards us, before she squeled "So you guys are finally together!"

I looked at My hand to see that Shika and I have been holding hands all along, we both let go, and my face was all red.

"It's not like that!" I said shaking my head, and avoiding any eye contact with Shika "we were just going somewhere.

"Troublesome woman!" Shika muttered "We are just friends" for some reason i felt a bang in my heart when he said that 'Focus Sara not the time to be thinking about those things'

"Well i need to go anyway, but you too are so cute together" She said leaving and ignoring everything we said.

"That Was..." I started saying awkardly

"Troublesome" He finished "Lets just go forget what she said!"

we continued walking to his house, in an awkward silence.

'As much as i really hate that girl's squeals, i have to agree with her' Yami stated 'It's obvious you have feelings for this boy'

'even if i do, It doesnt mean that he feels the same way' I thought back

'you never know, i think the boy have feelings for you'

'even if he does it's not fair for him, I'm dying! at somepoint i will have to let all of my friends go, even if it meant i have to break the bond i have with them'

"Hey!" A voice intrupted my thoughts with Yami , i looked to see Shika moving his hands infront of my face "What wrong?"

"Nothing!" I lied "Just remembering something" I looked to see that we were standing infront of his house. "We are here!" I stated and and then scolded myself mentally for obivously stating the obvious.

"Yeah! lets go inside my mom is probably waiting" he said leading the way and openning the door.

"I'm home!" he shouted once we were inside.

And soon enough a brown haired women wearing a pink blouse were standing infront of us "Took you long enough where have you been all this time!" she yelled at him, i smiled at that she hasnt changed much.

"Troublesome women!" he mummered under his breath "I was bringing Sara!" he said gesturing to me.

she turned to look at me, and the next think i know i was being enveloped in a hug.

"You really grown, and you look so much like your mother" she said taking a close look at me after she she broke the hug, and she told me somthing a loy of people told me before, and that was how much i looked like my mother "You know you should have visited us in the last few years"

"Sorry mrs Nara!" i stated rupping the back of my neck "I was busy with missions and all"

"Non sense, i mean you had to have sometime off between missions" she stated standing and putting her hands on her hips.

"I had little time, and used it to spend some time with my little sister, and trainning"

"Little sister?!" she wondered

"Adobted, she lost her father seven years ago and her mother died at her birth, so she was left alone, i took care of her since then" i explained, all the grwonups heared and knew what happened seven years ago, not the specifics though.

"I see, so any chance of getting her hear i would love to meet her?"

"Yeah i think i can get her here"

"Good to hear, you do that and i will go finish making dinner"

"Thank you mrs Nara for having me"

"No proplem, and I always told you to call me Yoshino"

"Sure thing"

"I see you still have a good relation with her like before" Shika stated boredly as his mother left the room.

"Where are you going?" i asked as he was making his way out of the house "Arent we going to bring Kohana?" he asked.

"No worries!" i stated, while he looked at me confused "I can let her know to come here without having to go myself"

At that moment i bit my thumb, so blood was dropping from it, i made some handsigns, and slammed my hand on the ground "Summoning jutsu!" i said as there was a puff of smoke, once it cleared, a white dove was standing on the ground, it was normal sized dove.

"Sara!" Kei yelled happily once she saw me "It's been too long!" she positioned herself on my head, and i giggled.

"Good to see you too Kei! So this Shikamaru, Shika this is Kei, one of my summones" I introudeced them to each other.

"Kei do you think you can get Kohana and bring her here?" I asked Kei who gave me a closed eye smile "Sure thing!" and then she dissapereaed in a puff of smoke.

"So where exactly did she go?" Shika sked confused

"She is a messenger, she can appear any where she wants, sadly she can only do it to herself, but its helpful when i want to get a message to anyone at any time, and she is really a good friend" i explained to him.

Dinner was great, soon enough Kei came back with Kohana, at dinner Kohana chatted with Yoshino, and they both got along really well, we were all laughing, afterwards, me and Kohana went home.

Now Kohana was sleeping, and i was staying at the roof, watching the stars, it was about two in the morning, and a few minutes before i had the nightmare about what happened seven years ago, so i couldnt sleep again.

I sensed some dark chakra in the village i got up, and wore my ninja outfit before flickring to the village, i then started jumping from roof to roof, following the Dark chakra.

'If i were you i wouldnt follow this chakra' Yami advised in my mind, and i ignored him, and continued following the chakra.

I finally reached the location where to was coming from, to see the source of this chakra was Garaa, who looked half beast.

"So you lost control" i stated the obvious again, i think i need to work on that, he turned to me and growled, my eys darted to the dead sound nin on the roof, i didnt know his name, but i did know he was one of the finalists.

I made a hand sign just in time for a light sheild to appear and stop the sand hand from attacking me.

I made a few handseals "Light Prism!" I shouted and soon enough a prism formed ariun him trapping him inside, as he began trashing, trying to get out.

"You're wasting your energy" I told him while my hand remained in hand seal "the only way to get out if i broke the hand seal, and that wont be happening unless you go back to your cage shukaku" He growled at me, but eventually calmed down as sand fell from his right arm, he held his head in it panting, once i felt the Shukaku's chakra retreat to it's cage, i dropped the handsign and the prism dissapeared.

"how you feeling?" i asked him putting an arm on his shoulder, he looked up at me shocked.

"Why aren't you scared?" he askde shocked

"everyone deserves a chance, and you're not the monster" as i said that he regained his emotionless expression, i sensed the other chakra signs here coming to the roof, so i stood up.

"You're family is coming, i better get going see you tommorow" i made a handsign and dissapeared in a puff of smoke.

We were standing in a row facing the crowds in the middle of the arena, all the finalist were here but Naruto and Sasuke.

'That's weird! I thought Sasuke was going to be late since he is training with Kakashi, but i never thought Naruto would be late'

'forget about those too, you have bigger problems' Yami thought back with a growl

I understood what he meant, i turned my gaze, and my eyes met with Yuu, we stared at each other, my eyes showing no emotions, while his eyes filled with pure hatred, i fuilt guilty, but i did what i had to do, atleast that was what i told myself, i mean their father was leading a group of ninjas in terorizing villages, it was the right thing to do wasnt it?

As i hear a commotion on the streets outside, i snab out of my thoughts, to sense Naruto running from bulls! I sweat dropped at that, 'the one and only knuckle head'

He soon came into the stadium sliding along the grounds till he came to a stop infront of me.

I helped him up.

"Guys!" Naruto cries urgently "There's a huge herd of stampeding bulls coming! We've gotta run!"

"How do you manage to get yourself in this situations?" I asked shaking my head with crossed arms.

"Hey, where's Sasuke?" he asked, making me shrug.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be fighting Dosu first up, but i havent seen him either" Shika said thoughtfully.

"Hey, quiet you guys!" Genma said, "Stand up straight and represent your village proudly to the spectators"

We all glanced at the cheering crowd, i saw Naruto get serious, probably since he is going Against Neji, Sakura told me about the pledge he made, after Neji and Hianta's battle.

I looked up into a high stand, where the hokage and the Kazekage are, I narrow my eyes at the Kazekage.

'Somthing's off about him!" i thought to Yami wanting his opinion on the matter.

'I know hi chakra something wrong with it, you better keep your guard up'

"Welcome everyone!" The hokage announced to the whole stadium. "Sincerest thanks to everyone for coming here, the hidden leaf village, to witness the final competition with the finest gennin in the lands! They are the final 10 contestants, chosen from among hundreds to represent there respective coutries! we ask that no one leaves until all of the fights have concluded! Please, enjoy yourselves!"

The crowd broke into thunderous applause and cheering, excited for the matches to begin.

"One more thing before we start" Genma said, pulling a sheet of paper from his leaf vest, he hel it up for us all to see. It told us who we'll be fighting.

"The matches have changed a little bit" he explained "So take a good look and remember who you're fighting"

My fight was going forth against Yuu.

"Uh, I have a question" Naruto announced

"Yeah, what?" Genma asked boredly

"Well, what'll happen to Sasuke if he doesnt show up?" Naruto asked looking concerned.

"If a competitor isnt here when their name is called, they automatically forfeit the match" He informed us all.

'Great going Kakashi, youre tardness ir really infective' i though to myself concerned

"Alright, the terrain may be different here, but the rules are the same as in the perliminaries" he explained.

"You all know that that means there are no rules. the match will end when one contestant concedes defeat or dies. That said, if i think that a match is over, I will step in and stop the fight. And there'll be no arguing with me! understood?! Alright, so the first two contestants, Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga will stay here while the rest of you will go up to the waiting area" He pointed to a high balcony.

As everyone turned to head for the stair way, i wished Naruto luck, he grinned determinedly, and I made my way up there.

I stopped in the stair case, once i made sure no one can see me, i bit my thumb and made some handseals "Summoning Jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke a white dive appeared, but this unlike Kei had a pink circlet mark around her neck.

"Miyuki, no time, i need you to find Kakashi Hatake, tell him he better get here quickly!" I informed her urgently, she nodded and dissapeared in a puff of smoke.

I made my way up and stood beside Shika at the balcony railings.

"Who do you think will win? my money is on Neji" Shika asked me eyes watching Naruto and Neji who were staring at eachother.

"I think Naruto will win" i informed him watching the two in the arena.

"You got something to say to me kid?" Neji taunted

"Yeah, exactly what i told you before!" Naruto retorted "I vow to win this match!"

Neji closed his eyes, before reopening them, his Byakugan activated. He stood in the typical Hyuga fighting stance.

"Heh all the better for me" Neji said with a cofident smirk "I cant wait to see the look of misery on your face when you realize that you wont be able to keep your pathetic little vow"

"Are we gonna stand here and talk all day?" Naruto asked slowly "C'mon! Lets get going already! Lets see what you can do!"

"Alright!" Genma called "Then let the first match of the final competiton...Begin!"


	22. Chapter 20

**Sara Pov**

Naruto and Neji kept staring at each other, Suddenly Naruto throws a few kunai at Neji, and runs at him.

'is he an idiot?' Yami asked 'He knows he shouldnt attack with a frontal attack'

"You moron! A frontal attack will never work!" I heard Kiba's voice yell out from the crowd.

'Even dog boy knows it' Yami stated and i just sigh.

(AN: okay I'm too lazy to write in detail what happened i mean if you're reading a fanfic you probably saw the real thing, anyway i put a the video to their fight on the side -)

'looks like there is till some hope for the idiot' Yami said

'that's Naruto for ya always full of suprises'

"Alright Naruto!" I shouted at the top of my voice, while the crowd was silent unbelieveing the result.

"Yeah Naruto!" Shika joined in, throwing a fist in the air,and soon after the crowd joined in cheering again.

"So i guess your going to put your money on Naruto next time?" I aske Shika with a smirk.

"I guess i underestimated him!" Shika stated "But i never expected him to have gotten this strong in such a short time"

"Naruto!" I exclaimed happily giving him a quick hug "congrats on winning! I knew you could do it!"

"Hehe! It was nuthin!" He bragged, as i just shook my head.

"If you call having all your chakra point closed nothing!" Shika Taunted, Causing Nauto to cross his arms."But i actually didnt think you had it in you"

The crowd than began shouting at the proctor and the hokage, asking for Sasuke Uchiha.

"Way to boost someone that already has a huge ego" i muttered, with crossed arms.

"yeah, no one wants to see any of us anyway" Shika agreed boredly.

"Actually i think the may want to see Sara's match if they knew she was in the exams" Shino stated quietly, causing both Naruto and Shika to freak.

"Did you have to jump us like that?" Shika asked "What do you mean anyway?"

"Sara is the youngest of the prodigy siblings" he stated as i felt a bang in my heart, all three of them turned to me.

"Who are the prodigy siblings?" Naruto asked confused

"You see" i started "My brother was prodigy who graduated the academy at five, he specalized in Taijutsu and fuujutsu, and when i was born, i had a great talent and was considered a prodigy too, soon after people called the two of us the prodigy siblings"

Before anything else is said, Garaa looked over at Naruto who glared in return, Shika and i kept on looking between them.

But i turn away when i felt someone looking at me, and my eyes met Yuu's.

"Anyway" Shika said standing in front of Me. "Where is Sasuke? If he doesnt come he will be disqualfied"

"I dont know i sent Miyuki to get him" I said as i glanced to see a ninja talking to Genma.

"Who is Miyuki?" Naruto asked "One of my summons"

Suddenly Genma turned to the crowd as the other ninja dissappeared, announcing that Sasuke's match will be postponed. Naruto and I sighed in relief.

"Okay! Shino and Kankuro!" He called "Make your way down to the arena!"

"Good luck Shino!" I told him he gave me a slight nod

"Proctor!" Kankuro called "I forfeit! so just go to the next match!"

"What?!" Shika and Naruto gasped, as i narrowed my eys at him.

'Something wrong' I thought 'He isnt the type to forfeit'

'I know first something wrong with the kazekage, now the sand nin forefits, the sand is up to something'

"Fine due to Kankuro's withdrawal, Shino Aburame wins bye default" The proctor irritably announced to the crowd. They begin booing, obviously not happy with the decision.

"Will Sara Hiroshi and Yuu Michi come down to the arena?Or do anayone else wants to quit" Genam added with a grumble.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered, Slapping me on the back "Show them what you're made of" I give him a small smile.

"Good luck! i know it will be easy for you" Shika encouraged, i looked at Yuu, who gave a smirk before jumping off the railing and landing in a crouched postion, i made my way down the stairs.

We both stood opposite of eachother, in the middle of the arena, we were both glaring at eachother, him with hatred, me showing no emotion.

"Begin!" Shouted Genma as he jumped back.

we continued to stare at each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

In less then a second, I made the first move throwing senpon needles at Yuu, he jumped high into the air, avoiding them, I was then infront of them throwing a kick, he threw a kick of his own our attacks negated each other, we both jumped back.

We were both now on diffenernt sides, He was making hand signs at an amazing speed, one that almost rivals mine.

"Lightining style: Lightining wolf jutsu!" he shouted as a lightining wolf formed and ran at me at high speed, as i moved out of the way, it followed, i made a few hand signs at high speed, i can hear the genins gasp at the speed.

"Wind style: Air bullet jutsu!" I shouted putting an arm to my mouth and shooting air bullets at the wolf, who dissapeared on contact.

As soon as he dissapeared i turned around, Drawing a senbon needle, my needle collided with his kunai, and we both jumped back again, while i was jumping, i was making hand signs.

"Fire style: Great fire ball jutsu!" i shouted putting an arm to my mouth and and blowed a huge fire ball at where he landed.

when the jutsu was finished i landed in a crouched position, looking around there was no sign of him, I jumped int the air, at the same moment a hand protruded out of the ground.

the hand dissapeared, and i turned around blocking a kunai with a senbon needle, but this time, i put some of my wind chakra in it, he jumped back, and landed in a crouch and i did the same.

' he is strong, and he even combines ninjutsu with his kekkei genkai, so he must have a great chakra reserve' i thought to my self

I made hand signs quickly "Light reflection jutsu" i shouted as i dissapeared, and conceled my chakra.

I pulled my Katana quietly as i carefully made my way to him, but stopped in my tracks "If you think i will fall for the same trick my brother and father fell for you're dreaming" he said with a smirk.

In a second he was infront of me, and before i could block his kunai stuck in my shoulder, i jumped back dropping the jutsu, and pulling the kunai out and throwing it to the ground.

"I trained myself day and night, stupide tricks like that wont work on me" he taunted "As long as you breathe i will know where you are"

My eyes widened at that, for a second before i smirked.

"Lets take it to the next step shall we?" i asked with a smirk, making hand signs as he did the same.

"Water style: Grand wave" I shouted as he shouted "Earth style: earth flow wave"

we both slammed our hands on the ground, a water wave came from my side, and and earth wave came from his, when the both collided, we both jumbed back avoiding the collision results, we both made hand signs again.

"Fire style: Flame bullet!" i shouted as he shouted "Earth style: Rock pillar rising!"

I shot flames at him from my mouth, and evaded the roch pillars as he evaded my flame bullets, each of us not having a clear shot becaus of the otherone's attack.

"Maze of Darkness!" i shouted making the hand signs, but i didnt stick to only surronding him with darkness, i took it to the other level, manipulating it, to make him see his worst nightmare, it was a cruel jutsu i didnt like to use it, but it was the only way to win this match without killing him.

Soon enough he dropped to the ground holding his head, eyes widened, he whimpered for a little but was able to break it, shocking me, but he was panting from exhaustion.

"I told you stupid tricks wont work on me" he looked up and i gasped, he had strange tatto marking all over his left side of his body, and he dissapeared and appeared infront of me, with kunai I skid back avoiding his Kunai, he appeared behind me, again i drew my Katana and blocked his attack, putting fire chakra into my Katana, flames appeared around it, burning his hands, but not mine, my Katana was mad especially for that, its hilt wont transfer the heat to my hand.

I drew some senbon needles, and threw them at him, as he dissapeared and appeared infront of me, he aimed a kick to my stomach i blocked it and countered with a punch which he blocked.

we continued like that for a few minutes, until we both skid back, he was panting hard, i was panting too but not as much.

I made some hand signs after bitting my thumb, "Summoning jutsu!" i shouted slamming my hand on the ground.

And a brown normal sized sparrow appeared.

"Sadao!" i called urgently as he took place on my shoulder, i didnt need to infrom him of anything, he already knew, when i signed a contact with them like all their summoners before me, your mind gets connected to one of them, so he was full aware of what was going on here.

"No!" Yuu shouted "I have to win, have to take my revenge, you killed my father and hurt my brother" he was standing up still panting and a bit whopply "You destroyed my life!"

"I'm sorry!" I told him with closed eyes, "I know how hard it is to have your parents killed, your father was a criminal, i did what i had to do to protect the other villages from him"

"I dont care if he was a criminal! he was my father and you killed him!" he said it with venom dripping from his voice.

"Like i said I'm sorry, but i cant take back what i did" I finished and Sadao's eyes glowed for a few seconds.

"Genjutsu complete" he told me quietly. as Yuu fell to the ground unconcious.

"Proctor, It's over he wont be able to get up" i told him quietl, it was the first i noticed during the entire battle how quiet the crowd was.

"Right, Due to Yuu michi being unable to finish the fight the winner is Sara Hiroshi" he announced.

The crowd exploded into thunderous shouts, i could hear my friends cheering too, i gave them a smile, but smile grown when i noticed that among the crowds was Kohana sitting next to Hideo sensei, she was cheering while sensei, just smirked.

The medics came and took Yuu on a stretcher, as i made my way to the balconies, where the other genins were.

"Sara!" Naruto cried hugging me as i made my way up the stairs, when he broke it he had a huge grin on his face, i couldnt help but smile back "That was amazing, i mean you used all this awesome jutsu, it was the best believe it!"

Sadao smiled still standing on my shoulder.

'your friend?' He thought to me 'Yeah he is Naruto a member of team 7'

'The genin team you told us about?'

'Yeah'

"He's right" Shika spoke up, arms in his pocket "I mean that match wasnt a drag at all"

"So who are you and what have you done to my friends Shikamaru?" I asked jockingly "My friend finds everything a drag"

Naruto was laughing, and i giggled a little.

"But what happened in the end, i mean did he faint of exhaustion?" Naruto asked looking thoughtfull.

"No it was a genjutsu casted by Sadao here" i said pointing to the brown sparrow on my shoulder "It's not a big one, but its mostly to finishh battles when the opponent is exhausted"

"So good luck Shika!" i told him with a smile pointing at the arena where Temari was waiting for him, his shoulders dropped.

"Aw man what a drag" he sighed

"That's the Shika i know" i told him patting his shoulders.


	23. Chapter 21

**Sara Pov**

"Alright Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted excitedly "Now you've gotta win too okay?!"

Shika sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"Ugh, I dunno" he muttered "Maybe i should just quit too. I mean, even if i did beat her and make it to the final round, there's no way i'd be able to beat either of y-"

"You can do it Shikamaru!" Naruto cutted Shika off, slaaping him on the back.

My eyes widened, as a shocked Shika is pushed over the railing.

"Shika!" I exclaimed, Before punching Naruto on the head "Idiot!"

Sadao sighed, but had a smirk on his face.

I heard Shika groan as he hit the ground with a thud.

I peered over the railing, to see Shika lying on his back, glaring at Naruto.

Soon enough the crowd started jeering at Shika, shouting for him to get to his feet. I saw his face twitch.

"You planning on giving up as well?" Temari sneered, making Shika look over at her.

Naruto began stomping around, waving his arms in the air.

"Come on Shikamaru!" he shouted "Pull yourself together and get up! Try starting the fight sometime this year!"

"Well, if you wont start this match" Temari said, looking at shika "then i will!"

"Hey! I didn't say start yet!" Genma called, as Temari charged towards Shika.

'You can do it now' Sadao thought to me, as i quietly slipped while everyone was watching Temari charge at Shika.

once i was in the stairs, i made a clone and sent her to watch the match for me.

"You better go now" i told Sadao, who dissapeared in a puff of smoke.

I made my way to the infirmary, where the injured finalists were.

when i reached the door, where i sensed his chakra behind, i knocked, and slowly opened it when i heard a 'come in'.

The room was pretty simple, with him sitting on the bed.

"Hey!" i greeted timidly, trying to gather whatever courage i had.

'So you can fight enemies easily without thinking about it twice, but when you try to fix some problems with someone you try to gather up courage?' Yami said to me mockingly.

I just ignored him, looking at Neji who was looking at me, like he is trying to figure out something, he didnt even return the greeting.

"So how are your injuries?" I asked timidly again, trying to start any type of conversations, he didnt answere, but kept looking at me with the same look.

'At least he's not glaring!" I thought to myself.

"I'm-m...sorry" i said quietly, he raised an eyebrow at me.

"What did you say?" he asked speaking for the first time since i came into the room.

"I said i'm sorry" i said a little louder

"What for?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"For leaving seven years ago" i explained looking down at the ground, as my bangs covered my face. "I shouldnt h-"

"I know what happened" he stated cutting me, and making me look at him shocked, with wide eyes.

"H-ho-ow?" I asked sturttring because of the shock.

"It wasnt hard i asked around after our run in the hospital, listened to when the people gossiped about it, it's easy when most people dont even notice you, But guy sensei was where i got most of the story" he stated with closed eye.

My eyes were back to normal. I looked at thr ground with a frown on my face.

"But why did you dissapeare?" he asked, i stayed quiet for a few seconds.

"If you know what happened" i started saying quietly "Then you know that, the attacker was after me, I was the reason they died, cause i wasnt dtrong enough to protect them, i didnt want that to happen to my friends, if someone tries to hurt them to get to me, i wont be able to protect them, that's was why, i needed to get stronger"

"But from what i heard you now have an adoptive little sister, di-"

"I know!" i cutted him "But she lost her only remaning family because of that attack, because of me, i couldnt just leave her, i couldnt let her growing up all alone"

"I should have known" he said with a sigh "You were always like that, trying to protect everyone you care about, and trying to never show weakness, or lean on others"

I looked at him, without saying anything.

"I saw lord Hiashi leave the stands earlier, i'm guessing he came to talk to you" I said trying to change the subject, waiting for him to tell me what they talked about.

"I think i wont tell you that now" he stated with a smirk

"fine! but does that mean we can be friends again?" i asked looking at the ground

"Whatever" he replied as i smirked, this was his way of agreeing.

"Well then you need to rest and i still have somewhere to be so see you later" i said with a wave as i left the room.

'one down' i thought

'One to go' Yami finished.

I made my way to a room that was two doors down from Neji's room.

i sighed as i knocked the door, the door opened to reveal a glaring Masaru, i could tell him apart from his brother cause his green hair was tied in a short pnytail, unlike Yuu who kept it down and reached his shin, and he wasnt covered in brusies.

"What are you doing here?!" he asked with venom, as his golden eyes glared at me with hate.

"I wanted to talk to you and Yuu" i stated.

"And we dont want to hear it" he replied as he tried to slam the door, but i stopped it.

"Hear me out than do what you want" i stated, he looked more like the hot head from the two twins, taking his appearence in, i would say he was 15 or 16 at the most

"Why should we?!" he yelled at me

"What do you want to talk about?" Yuu asked quietly glaring at me with hate, as he came beside his brother, he was bruised and bandaged.

"More of me wanting to say a few things,hear me out please?" i pleaded, as he stared at me, before givning a slight nod, his brother relecuantly moved out of the way, as i made my way inside, Their third team mate, the girl with purple hair tied in a pony tail, and black eyes, that was glaring at me, she looked about the same age as the other too.

Acoording to what Sakura told me, when her name was called it was Aya Chika. From what i read that the the Chika clan are known for their ability to manpiulate plants, mostly flowers.

The black haired kunochi glared at me, same as Masaru, as he took seat in a chair her near the wall, as Yuu took a seat beside the window, on the opposite wall.

I gathered all i had in me, i didnt believe i was doing this, but i wanted to fix the mistaked i made, starting with Neji, and now i needed to fix it with the Michi brothers.

I understood exactly how they felt, to lose your parents murdered, i was for one never going to forgive, but i didnt seek revenge, and I needed to try fixing it with them.

"I wanted to apologize" i started saying timidly, looking straight at them, as i stood next to the wall between them "I'm sorry, i know you can never forgive. I for one know what it feels like to lose your parents, both my parents were mudered by non other than the snake you follow" I closed my eyes as that night played in my head, before opening them again.

"I understand how hard it is to forgive someone for killing your parents, i for one havent forgiven that snake, so i cant possibly expect you to forgive me. But what i am trying to say that you shouldnt seek revenge, i know how tempting it is to kill the person that killed the people you care about, but-"

"You say you know how it feels!" Masaru yelled standing up, "You say you feel the same pain! but you tell us not to try and get revenge! i dont care what you have to say, all i care about is to see the day you die!" with that he stormed out of the room.

"I will go after him" Aya announced as she made her way after him, leaving me with Yuu.

"You said he killed your parents?" Yuu asked breaking the silent, i gave him a nod "How did you feel after you killed my father?"

He asked taking me by suprise, i looked at him, remembering that mission.

"I felt guilty, i was disgusted with myself, even if he was a criminal he was a human being, and i didnt like to kill, but when ever i fought back the i had little control over my dark kekkei genkai, it wasnt as strong as it's now, and didnt show much, but when i fought it gave me bloodlust, that caused me to kill many criminals, not only your father, at the time, but now i have more control over it then back then"

He closed his eyes looking deep in thought.

"You said you didnt seek revenge why is that?" he asked opening his eyes, looking straight at me.

I thought about it, i never told the promise i made to other than Hideo sensei and Kohana.

"When Orochimaru escaped back then" i started saying "I rushed to my parents side they were both taking their last breath, they asked me to promise them to live my life happily, not waste it following revenge, they said that they wanted me to honor them that way, that that way they will be at peace, i promised them, and since then i have tried my best to keep that promise, but sometimes i didnt.

But i tried to keep trying to live my life happy, even when its hard, because i realized that if i seeked revenge and ended up dying because of it, they would have given their life for nothing, that now bacame one of my goals, to keep that promise no matter what.

I know its too much to aske for forgivness, but i dont think your father wanted you and your brother to waste your life following revenge, i mean you both have each other and thats enough reason for the two of you to continue living.

Thats all i wanted to say, I'm sorry for everything. and hopefully the next time we meet we wont have to fight" I finished as i made my way out of the room, as i closed the door, and started making my way back to the arena i sighed.

'That didnt go as planed' i thought to myself but was suprised when Yami didnt comment.

'something wrong, Yami?!' i asked him confused

'Nothing just, need sometime to think' he replied and went quiet again.

I climped the staires to the balcony where all the other contestants were, seeing my clone standing beside Naruto watching the match, i released her, and all she saw was transfered to me. I made my way to stand beside Naruto.

Shika was standing in the middle of the field, with Temari caught in his shadow posseison jutsu. He suddenly raised his arm.

"Da hell with it! I give up!" he announced causing everyone to gasp at him. I sighed.

"Typical Shika!" i mumbled with closed eyes shaking my head.

"Winner, Temari of the sand!" Genma announced.

I saw Shika rub his right shoulder "Man I'm tired" he whined making me sweatdrop.

"Why did he give up?! Is he and idiot?!" Naruto yelled as he descended from the railings "That reall pissed me off i'll go teach him a lesson"

I looked at Shika to see him watch the clouds, causing me to sweatdrop again.

"Why? Why didnt you want to win?" i heared Temari ask him.

"Well, two reasons" Shika said outloud, enough for everyone to hear "One, i have little chakra left, and my shadow possession jutsu might be able to hold you for another ten seconds. Two, they said to show off your skills in order for them to see if you can be a chunin or not, in which, I did."

I smiled, my gaze turned to the sky as i saw Miyuki approach me.

"What took so long?!" i asked the dove as she landed on my head, she sighed.

"They wanted to make a flashy entrance" she told me her wind pointing upfront.

I look at the arena to see, the leaves flying with sudden gust of wind, only seconds later too reveal Sasuke and Kakashi standing back to back, in the middle of the arena.

"Yeah flashy" i said with sarcasm driping from my mouth.

"Sorry we're so late" Kakashi apologized "Didnt think there was going to be so much traffic on the way over"

Genma asked him for his name.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha" Sasuke informed him, as the crowd broke into thunderous cheers.


	24. Chapter 22

**Sara Pov**

"Alright Garaa!" Genma called "Time for you to get down here as well"

"C'mon Naruto" i heard Shika say, strolling towards the exit stairs "We better get outta here"

Naruto bounded after him, giving Sasuke one last thumbs up.

Garaa began chuckling to himself, sounding a little crazy.

'He is losing control' i thought to Yami 'And i still cant shake the feeling something bad is going to happend'

'Better be ready, cause I think that feeling of yours is right'

Kankuro suddenly stepped forward.

"Garaa! No matter what, don't let him distract you from following the plan oka-"

He was cutted by Temari covering his mouth hurriedly, i pretended that I didnt hear anything.

"...Plan?..." I heard Shino mutter to himself thoughtfully.

Garaa suddenly turned, and walked down the stairs that led to the arena.

"You know that now isnt a good time to talk to him" Temari told Kankuro, but i didnt focus on what she said next, as i felt Garaa attacking two people.

I turned quickly, and made my way down the i went to where i felt them, i found Garaa beside two dead bodies, with Naruto and Shika staring at him, frozen.

A normal person who would have seen such a sight would have frozen like Shika and Naruto, but i already saw death too many times for a 13 year old.

"Dont you have a match to get to?" I asked Garaa with an emotionless voice "You dont want to be lat now do you?"

He simply walked away to the arena with the crazed look on his face.

"You guys okay?" i asked the two genins whos eyes kept following Garaa till he was out of sight

"Yeah" the muttered.

"You better go back to the balcony" i told them before i turned going up the stairs to the crowds area.

**Yuu Pov**

I was sitting in myr room, waiting for the plan to start, Masaru and Aya were in position waiting too, while everyone would attack the village, the three of us had a different plan, one that i wasnt sure if i wanted to go through with.

I teleported to the where the crowds were, to see Aya and Masaru, eyes focesd on the match below, The Uchiha and the Demon.

"It should start soon, you up for it?" Masaru asked eyes trained on the arena below. i glanced at where the other contestants were, to see that she was missing.

"Yeah" i mumbled a little unsure.

**Sara Pov**

My eyes stopped on one person sitting in the crowds, Lord Fumio leader of the Hiroshi clan, Aka my grandfather, but only by blood, he never acts like it or shows he even cares.

I havent noticed him before, i didnt even care if he was here, i continued to look between the crowds till i found them.

I made my ways down the stairs between the seats.

"Hey!" i greeted them with a smile.

"Nee-san!" Kohana yelled getting up from her seat and hugging me "You were amazing, if you dont make it to chunin i dont know who would"

I chuckled a little ruffluing her hair "Thank you but it wasnt that great"

"You did great" Hideo sensei said still sitting with a smile.

"Thank you sensei" i said before turning to Kohana "I need to borrow sensei for a second i need to ask him something kay?" she nodded taking her seat and wayching the ongoing match

Sensei looked at me with a raised eye brow, i motioned for him to follow.

Once we were in one of the empty halls, i stopped leaning against the wall.

"Whats going on?" he asked worridely

"I think somethings wrong" i started saying seriously "Something bad is going to happend, and i think Orochimaru might be behind it, and i think the sand are joining the sound on this one" he raised an eyebrow "I heard Temari and Kankuro talk to Garaa, about how he should not let Sasuke make him forget the plan, i have had a bad feeling all day"

"The hokage thought the same" it was my turn to raise an eyebrow "Dont be suprised, we think Orochimaru might be planning an attack, Anbu are guarding the place, you must have saw them?" I nodded "One thing though i dont want you going after Orochimaru got it?"

"I wont go after Orochimaru" i stated

"You know you cant go-" he stopped himself mid sentence "You actually agreed, what happened to your usual stuporn self?"

"I'm not an idiot, or a revenge seeker, last time i did it to protect my friends, but..." i looked down to the ground, with a frown "You think he is here?"

He sighed staying quiet for a few secnods.

"You still think he is alive?" he asked i havent told him wha Orochimaru told me in the forest, most people thought i was crazy for thinking my brother was still alive, and others that thought he was alive, said that he probably gone rogue.

"I dont think i know" i replied "He is alive, i just know it"

"Did Orochimaru tell you something?" He asked or stated "Cause you know he could have just said it to get to you"

"He did" i replied but continued before he could say anything else "But it's not that, i know cause..I know it sounds crazy but i can feel it, he is still alive, if he had died i would have felt it"

**Hideo Pov**

****I looked at her concerned, she was keeping her head in the clouds, she needed to face the truth. As much as i wanted to him to be alive, i couldnt trick myself like that.

I knew though that there was no changing what she thought, she believed it for seven years, and she wasnt going to budge now.

Looking at her the determination in her eyes, and there was the look that showed that she wasnt going to giveup on him being alive.

Her father was one of my closest friends, and that was one of the reasons he made me her godfather afterall.

"Just be carefull" i told her concerned "If he was alive he wouldnt want you getting hurt just to save him"

She looked up at me with a small smile, a fake one that she always have for reassuarence, that one of things that changed about her ever since that day.

"Dont worry sensei i dont plan on dying before i get him back" she replied with her smile before it turned to a frown, we both glanced to the direction of the arena sensing something.

**Sara Pov**

I looked towards the direction of the arena senseing something there, soon enough both Sensei and i was running back to the arena.

Once we emerged from the hallway to the arena, we were greeted with sound nins attacking us.

I easily unsheathed my katana blocking their attacks easily, i could see Hideo sensei blocked other attacks with a katana too.

I pushed the attacking nin back getting some senbon needles from my pouch throwing them at him hitting himm in the neck, he fell to the ground unconcious, i looked at sensei to see he finished the one that attacked him, and that the nin was now dead on the ground.

"Kohana!" i whispered to myself runinnig to where she was, as i made my ways i noticed most of the crowd was under a genjutsu that made them sleep, i also noticed in a distance Kakashi and Guy fighting some nins, both sound and sand.

Kakashi was also saying something to Naruto, Sakura and Shika, i didnt bother to listen to.

As i was making jy way to Kohana ninja appeared in path, i had to strike them death, when i was a few seats away i stopped narrowing my eyes at the person infront of me.

I held an angry face as i stared at Masaru, who had Kohana over his shoulder, asleep from the genjutsu.

"Let her go!" I ordered trying to keep myself calm, he smirked holding a crazed look on his face.

"Not happening" Was the last thing he said before dissappearing, I noticed Hideo sensei standing beside me.

"I'm going after them" i told him, he nodded and went back to fighting the nins

"I will follow soon" he replied "Just need to help here first be careful"

I strated running towards the railings biting my thumb and doing hand signs.

as i jumped off the railings, i put my arm down "Summoning jutsu!" i said as a puff of smoke came.

Once it diversed, i was on Satoshi's back as he was flying into the air, Sadao flying beside us.

Soon enough Sadao, changed size till he was big enough for me to ride.

"Satoshi you help Hideo sensei he is back in the arena i will go with Sadao" i told him he nodded and made his way back as i jumped on Sadao's back.

"She'll be alright dont worry" he reassuared me, as we followed her chakra sign flying at top speed.

"I hope so" i mumered, i could sense two other chakra signs with her, ones i recognized as Masaru and Aya's.

"We're close" he announced and i stood up getting ready to jump once i felt their chakra behind us. I jumped from Sadao's back doing a flip and landing on a branch right infront of them, They stopped in their tracks staring at me, with Masaru still having Kohana over his shoulder.

"Let her go!" i ordered with growl, narrowing my eyes at the two infront of me, Aya looked at Masaru he nodded and she began forming handseals. "Vine prision!" she murmered as Masaru put Kohana on the branch, Veins grew from the tree pulling Kohana towards the the tree's trunk and covering her in what seemed like a cage made of veins.

I put my katana infront of me blocking Masaru's kunai as he appeared in front of me, i pushed him, jumping into the air avoiding the veins that came out of the ground, i then crouched as Masaru tryied stapping me with a kunai after appearing behind me.

I jumped to the branch where Aya was, when she saw me coming she jumped back, i tried cutting the veins around kohana with my katana, but they wouldnt cut. I turned just in time to block Masaru.

I jumped away avoiding another group of veins.

I was trying not to hurt them, since i understood Masaru's want for reveng, but they were making it very hard, and i needed to get Kohana to safety.

"I dont want to hurt you, just give me Kohana, and we dont have to fight" i told them trying to end it, they didnt reply, Aya just looked at Masaru, without saying anything.

"No way!" Masaru yelled at me "Come to think of it i have a better idea" he declared heading to Kohana, motioning to Aya to release the veins, he then held Kohana , releasing the genjutsu on her.

"W-what?" she mumered as she opened her eyes slowly, only for Masaru to hold her with a kunai to her neck, he then faced me with a smirk on his face.

I bit my lip, looking at the trempling Kohana, fear shown clearly on her face. She was obvioulsy froze looking at me tears falling down her face, she was frightened, and one wrong move and he wont hesitate to kill her.

"Now how will you feel if i kill your precious little sister?" He asked with a crazed look "How will you feel to lose a person you care about? You will pay if i cant kill you than i will let you live hurting!" he declared.

I felt everything move in slow motion, his hand pushing the kunai harder against her neck, me trying to get to her, she screaming my name pleading for my help.

Before i get to her, a hand stopped him, i followed the owner of the hand, for my eyes to land on non other than Yuu. My eyes widened in suprise, as i stared at him, so did his brother and Aya, but both of them stared in confusion.

"Give me the girl" Yuu ordered his brother, his brother obliged relcuantly, once Kohana was in Yuu's hand he jumped to the branch i was on letting her go, she ran to me and i crouched hugging her and trying to comfort her.

"What the hell?!" Masaru yelled angrily at his brother.

**Yuu Pov**

After Masaru and Aya left me to get ready to put the plant to action, I thought about what Sara said, I always thought killing her will bring My brother and I peace, but seeing the look on my brothers face right now, and thinking about everything we did to get to where we are now, i knew how wrong I was.

We practially gave our lifes for one purpose, we joined Orochimaru, because said he will give us this chance, we spent our lifes training, only Aya stayed by our side, I questioned whether was it all worth it? The crazed look on my brother face answered that question.

I didnt want revenge to cost me my brother, he was the only family I had left, we were twins me the elder by a few minutes, I came to the conclustion that i would rather giveup revenge than lose my brother to kill someone.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Masaru yelled again "We had her! She could have paid for what she did!"

"Masaru calm down" i ordered quietly, only for him to become more angered.

"Calm down?! are you freaking kidding me?!" He continued yelling "Did you forget what we came here for? Did you forget what she did to our father?!"

"I didnt" I answered simply, I glanced at ther crouching Sara beside me, She was still holding the girl, comforting her, but her eyes met mine, and i saw the gratitude in them, "But I realized that its not worth it, if the cost is my brother"

"Just look at yourself, you were just about to kill a child, one that didnt have anything to do with this" I finished as i looked back at him, I could see the darkness in his eyes, and that he didnt care who he hurt as long as he could get his revenge, meaning that convincing him with words wont be enough.

**Sara Pov**

'Sadao!' I called in my mind 'I need you to take Kohana to a safe place'

'Got it!' He thought back, in a few seconds he was infront of me, the other three eyes followed him as he flew infront of me.

I stood carrying Kohana in my hand, I put her on Sadaos back as i gave her a reassuring smile, she still had tears in her eyes, and her neck had a scratch on it, i blamed myself for that, she was hurt because of me, i failed her.

I have kept focus on the brothers talk, and i needed to make sure Kohana makes it to safety, before things escalate.

Once Kohana was on his back, he flew into the sky, with one last thought to me.

'Be careful'


	25. Chapter 23

**Sara Pov**

"You need to let go of revenge" Yuu said to his angered brother "You will lose yourself and everything you care about"

"Shut up!" Masaru snarled, as some dark chakra surronded him, and some tattoo appeared on his left side, Yuu and Aya looked at him suprised, while i got my hand on my katana's hilt ready for anything.

"You got the mark?" Aya asked shocked and a little frightened, as she backed away from him.

He just smirked, and bared his now sharp fang at her, she kept backing away from him.

"What did you do?" Yuu asked him angry "We agreed to never get the curse mark, why do you have it?"

"Unlike you i am not the most talented" he answered "I needed power and he gave it to me"

"You're kidding?! It's a curse! It's not worth it!" Yuu shouted at him, while i looked down guilt filled me, it was all my fault, my actions led to this, i was starting to see that my illness was the punishment i deserved.

"You know i used to look up to you" Masaru started saying with clenched fists "we are twins, you older by a few seconds, but you are the most talented between us, you were always the strongest one" He smirked, and let out a ceazed laugh "Now the roles are turned, and you're going to regret standing against me"

As he said that in a second he was infront of Yuu, kunai in hand. Yuu was frozen, looking at his brother with shock.

I stood between them blocking Masaru's kunai with my Katana, i pushed him back.

"Snab ou of it!" i yelled at the frozen Yuu as i blocked another attack, this time aimed at me, my eyes never left Masaru's "If you want to help him you need to move"

I jumped back avoiding the kunai that was lunged at me, aiming for my stomach.

Yuu was looking down with clenched fists. "I have a plan" i told him as he looked up at me "I can give you a chance to talk to him with no interruptions, but i will need you to stand up"

He obliged slowly as he stood up, i created three shadowclones, and sent them to keep Masaru busy, when he was standing at full hight i explained the plan to him.

"Got it?" i asked him once i finished, he nodded. I jumped at Masaru, he dissappeared and appeared behind me, i smirked as he fell into my trap. in a second Yuu was holding him from behind, as i made the hand seals.

"Light labyrinth!" i said as i placed my hands one on each od Masaru and Yuu's heads, as soon as we landed on the ground.

Their eyes closed almost instantly, light surronded their bodies freezing them in place. Aya then jumped beside me, looking sadly at Masaru as the tattoos retreated.

"What is the plan you and Yuu are going with?" she asked with a frown, as she crouched beside me looking at the frozen twins infront of us.

"This is a genjutsu, It will let them have a chance to talk, they cant attack or use jutsu or anything, and breaking out of it isnt easy, it's one of the few decent genjutsu's that i knew" I explained "They will be okay, but i need to ask you something"

She looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

"How close were they with their father?" I asked as i looked down.

"From what they told me, he was strict, trained them hard, and pushed them to their limits" she told me with a frown, but then changed to a small smile "But they also told me that he cared about them, never let anyone hurt them, took care of them when they were sick, put them above everything" she frowned as i looked at her, her eyes filled with guilt.

"I-i..." she started saying as tears built up in her eyes "I...It wasnt your fault" she finally said as ifurrowed my eye brows "Orochimaru was the one that forced their father to becoma a criminal, he threatned him, telling him to join or he will kill his sons, he then put me on a team with them, to keep an eye on them, he planned everything, he somehow knew you were one of the ninjas sent to take care of that gang, which was one of his hideouts, he sent their father their, hopping anyone would kill him, he needed to do this so Yuu and Masaru would work for him, especially Yuu since he was stronger than Masaru and their father" she finished as she teared her eyes out, placing her face in her palms "Th-hey trusted me, and i betrayed them, helped them grow their anger"

I looked down, thinking about everything she said.

'it's always him' i thought 'He always works up plans to mess with peobles life, and i acted out his plan like a pawn'

'Calm down. kid!' Yami yelled at me 'No need to lose contorl.

I breathed in and out trying to calm down my rising anger.

"Aya!" I called, we both looked eachother in the eye 'I have a plan to help you, all three of you! I fit works Masaru will be okay, and then you three could leave Orochimaru!"

I declared and explained the plan to her, and she nodded undestanding everything i say.

**Yuu Pov**

I opened my eyes to come face to face with masaru, i looked around we were both in come sort of maze made of light.

"What the?" Masaru looked around confused, his curse mark had retreated just like she said "Where the hell are we?"

"Somewhere we could talk quietly" i told him as i approched him slowly.

"Stay back!" he yelled at me, causing me to halt "You're not my brother anymore, you're nothing to me, i will kill you if you come any closer" he declared shocking me, i didnt bother to hide it.

"you need to stop this its not worth it!" i told him trying to stay focused "you're going to throw your life away!"

"as long as i get my revenge" he declares

"i wont let you do it" i informed him "i wont let you throw your life away"

"you cant stop me and if you get in the way i wont hesitate to kill you"

I looked at him with clenched fists, i couldnt believe what happened to him.

**Third Pov**  
The light around the two brothers started fading, turning back to the forest they were in. Both of them jumped back.

"why did you release the jutsu?!" Yuu asked the black haired kunochi as she jumped beside him. and as soon as the black eyed kunochi stood beside Masaru.

"i didnt have a choice" Sara informed him her eyes focused on the other two "She attacked me forcing me back"

"what are you doing?!" Yuu asked

"i wont let you stop him" she informed him emotionlessly "my orders is to help him finish the girl"

"What are you talking about?!"Yuu asked Aya, his anger rising "we were going to leave him after this, why are you following his orders?" she didnt answere, making Yuu clenched his fists, as Masaru let out a crazed laugh.

"I'm giving you one more chance, get out of my way or die!" Masaru told his brother his curse mark activating again.

"Stop this! You need to snap out of it!" Yuu yelled at his brother, desprate to get him back.

"Wrong choice!" Masaru declared, and in a blink of an eye he was infront of his brother, hitting him with a kunai in his heart. "You should have joined me!" he whispered in his brothers ear, as he drew his kunai from his stomach, making his brother fall back dead.

"What did you do? he was your family!" Sara yelled at him looking at him unbelieving "You keep saying you want to kill me for killing your father, but you just killed your own brother. You're no better!"

"He was no brother of mine!" he declared as the dark aura around him increased, and his eyes became even more bloodlust.

Before Sara can even react, roots protruded from the ground wrapping around her, holding her in place and making her drop her katana.

"Forget about me!" Aya spoke with a smirk "You should always focus on the enemy"

"Now you pay!" Masaru declared as he picked up her Katana, "rot in hell!" he hit her with her own Katana in her heart. she closed her eyes. and as the roots went back into the ground she fell dead on the ground.

Aya slipped away while no one was watching.

Masaru had a satsefied smirk on his face, He was glad to have finally got rid of his father's murdered. The whole battle played in his head, and His smirk was slowly replaced with a frown.

He turned around with widened eyes as he stared at his brothers body. The curse mark retreated till it was back to its original form, as his head cleared from it effect, the guilt filled him.

He ran to his brother, crouching beside his body.

"No no no no" he mummered with the tears building up in his eyes "What did i do? I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I should have listened, You were right it's not worth it"

The tears finally made their way down his cheaks hitting the ground.

"I'm even worse, I killed my own brother" He blamed himself, the guilt was too much, he wished if he could have done things differently, He wished that he could get another chance to do things differently.

His tears made their way down,one of them hit the ground to be replaced by a shining light, slowly the forest around him started fading to light, so did his brothers body, Sara's body and everything he stared with a confused expression.

**Sara Pov (To where her last Pov finished)**

"Got it?" I asked Aya as she bit her lip, the plan was going to take a leap of faith from her, she needed to do this with the cost of losing Both their trusts.

"Yes" she finally answered, i nodded to her.

I closed my eyes watching the two brothers as they talked, wating for the perfect chance to execute my plan.

"you cant stop me and if you get in the way i wont hesitate to kill you" Masaru told his brother, and i took the chance.

Their surrondings slowly changed to the one of the forest, we were in. As another me and Aya appeared in the forest.

"why did you release the jutsu?!" Yuu asked My otherself as she jumped beside him. and as soon as the black eyed kunochi stood beside Masaru.

"i didnt have a choice" She informed him her eyes focused on the other two "She attacked me forcing me back"

"what are you doing?!" Yuu asked

"i wont let you stop him" Aya informed him emotionlessly "my orders is to help him finish the girl"

"What are you talking about?!"Yuu asked Aya, his anger rising "we were going to leave him after this, why are you following his orders?" she didnt answere, making Yuu clenched his fists, as Masaru let out a crazed laugh.

"I'm giving you one more chance, get out of my way or die!" Masaru told his brother his curse mark activating again.

"Stop this! You need to snap out of it!" Yuu yelled at his brother, desprate to get him back.

"Wrong choice!" Masaru declared, and in a blink of an eye he was infront of his brother, hitting him with a kunai in his heart.

But before he did I released the genjutsu on Yuu, replacing him with an illusion of him.

**Yuu Pov**

I opened my eyes to see Sara with her hands still on Masaru's head, holding the genjutsu.

"But..." I started saying confused, Aya crouched infront of me.

"It's another plan she made" she informed me "I will explain everything"

She went on telling me about the plan.

"So Orochimaru didnt actually order you?" I asked her as she bit her lip, shaking her head.

"No" she hung her head down "He ordered me, to make sure you two go on with the fight, till you die"

"What?!" I asked as my eyes widened

"I'm sorry" she apologized "I'm really sorry, i didnt want to do it. and i wasnt going to go through with it"

She then told me about Orochimaru and my father and how ge threatened him, my fists clenched in anger. That snake was the real cause behind all of this, and both Sara and Aya like us were only pawns.

"It's done" Sara declared as she opened her eyes, a small smile on her face. "It worked" she slowly removed her hand, and slowly Masaru opened his eyes.

She stood up and went back as Aya and I, made our way to him.

"Good to see you back to your sane self" I informed him with a smirk.

"Yuu, Aya" he said as he looked at us with unbelieving eyes.

"Good to see you" Aya told him with a smile, but in a second he was holding her, with a kunai to her neck.

"You betrayed us for that snake!" He yelled at her as he lowered her head slightly in shame, I caught his wrist.

"Let her down Masaru" I ordered him "It wasnt her fault" I looked at her to see the gratefull look in them, mixed with happinese.

"But how?" he asked looking at me again "I killed you, didnt i?"

"No you didnt" Sara declared, we all looked at her she was leaning against a tree, with crossed arms, "It was genjutsu" she informed him

"But..You said.." he said looking confused.

"I never released it, just gave you the illusion of doing so" she told him "I realized that talking wont do, so it left the one option, we needed to let you have your revenge"

"You and Masaru were the only ones real in it, well, until you 'killed' him atleast. i released the genjutsu on him before you could actually kill him. then let you 'kill' me. I thought it was the only way to get you to realize the conseqences" as she finished Masaru had a suprised confused look on his face.

"But why would you help me?" he asked her.

"Because We were all played by Orochimaru" she told him and his face showed even more confusion.

"I can explain what she means" Aya told him before he could ask anything "Orochimaru used your father and when he wanted to get rid of him he sent him to that place knowing somehow the ninjas sent there are strong enough to kill him. He wanted to get rid of him in a way that he can make sur you and Yuu will work for him."

"Apparently, Orochimaru threatened our father forcing him to work for him" I told him

"He wanted to use you, but since he had no further use" Aya continued "He sent you here hoping Sara would finish you off"

"He used all of us" Masaru mummered to himself, taking everything in he just heared.

"So what are you going to do? all three of you?" she asked us.

I already knew what i wanted, i wanted to take my brother and Aya and get as far away as possible from that snake.

"Can we leave?" Aya asked quietly "I..dont want to do this anymore, I dont want to have follow his orders. I dont want to kill inocent people"

Masaru put his hand on her shoulder, and gave me a nod to show that he agreed with her.

"Than we will leave him and escape" I told them both and a small smile made its way to Aya's face.

"Well then, I better get going, my village needs me" Sara declared as she stood straight.

"Thank you for helping Masaru" i thanked her, she turned around and gave me a closed eye smile.

"No problem" she told me before leaping into the trees, as the three of us gathered around and teleported away from Konoha.

**Sara Pov**

****'That was quiet the show' Yami said

'Shut up' I told him as a headache was starting to form, and that was the last thing i needed especially with my chakra running low.

I might be able to use genjutsu, but it took quiet the toll on me.

i stared at the battle happening in a distance, between the one tailed beast and a giant toad.

'I need to get there quickly'

'How do you suppose your going to help with low chakra?' Yami asked mockingly 'You just had to help, killing them would have saved your chakra'

I jumped to the side avoiding a punch, at the neck of time.

'What the hell?!' I thought 'I didnt even sense his chakra, I mean if i hadnt heared his breathing when he was close i would have been hit'

The guy that attacked me dissapeared, I turned around blocking a punch.

I took the chance to look at him, he was wearing a long coat with a hood covering his head, and upper part of his face, but i could see he was wearing a mask on the lower half of his face.

I jumped back landing on a lower tree branch, panting hard. I was already pushing it, and this guy packed quiet the punch.

He landed on a branch opposite to me.

"Who are you?" I asked him gathering what strength i had left to stand, he remained quiet standing their, his hood covering his face.

I crouched avoiding a punch, throwing my legs to hit him, he jumbed up avoiding it. I swiftjy followed with a punch, he easily caught it. I followed with a kick but he caught my leg with his hand.

'Who is this guy? no one can stop me this easily even if I'm tired' i thought 'and his chakra seems somewhat familiar'

I tried to get out of his grib, but it was useless. He then let go and jumped back avoiding a punch.

"Took you long enough sensei" i told him with a smile, relief filling me, he looked a little beten up, but his chakra was almost full.

"Never thought you would need help" he said teasingly as he kept our gaze on our enemy, narrowing his eyes, but i saw the look in them it was one of confusion.

"Do you know him or something?" I asked him he just looked at me suprised.

"You dont recognize his chakra?" he asked suprised and shocked.

"It seems familiar" i informed him as i turned to look at the mystery guy, who was just standing there "But i cant place it"

I saw the frown that formed on his face before he turned to look at our enemy, with clenched fists.

"Why are you attacking us?" Hideo sensei asked the mystery guy, who just remained quiet, and still.

I saw it as a chance and threw a few seenbon needles aimed at him, he dodged but the needles hit their target.

I looked at him as he slowly rose his head, with the hood now off because of the needles.

My eyes widened, and i felt the air hitch in my throat, his lower part was covered with a mask, but his eyes, was ones i would recognize anywhere.

They were ones that was once filled with happiness, love and kindness, but now was empty, and lifeless.

"Nii-san" the words came out of my mouth quietly, as i was stared with a shocked expression at him.

He was alive after all, but he attacked me, and what suprised me more was the headband on his forehead, that was once the konoha headband, was now the sound's. My brother was rogue, and he just attacked me.

"Why?" i asked him "Why did you attack me?" he remained un fazed, quiet.

He suddenly formed a hand sign, and fire formed around him as he slowly dissapeared."No!" i shouted as i jumbed to the branch he was standing on, trying to catch him, but he dissappeared before i could.

"No" i muttered quietly as i stared at the spot where he was standing, before the fatiuge caught up to me and the darkness swallowed me.

**Hideo Pov**

He was alive. was what raced through my mind as i stared at the unconcious Sara in my hands. while leaping from tree to tree heading back to the village.

He was alive, but he was working for Orochimaru, he attacked Sara without a second thought, he attacked his own village.

'What could have happened to him? The Yoshio i knew would have never betrayed the leaf, not in a thousand years' I thought 'And Sara might have just hit her breaking point'


	26. Chapter 24

**Sara Pov**

I stood infront of the mirrior, brushing my hair. A frown was plastered on my face, i didnt even find it in me to fake a smile, like i did most of the time. I was wearing a black short sleeved dress, and black shoes and my reglar ninja headband.

I went out of the house walking down the path that led to the village, the path was full of my clan members heading like me to the hokages funeral, along with all those who gave their lives to protect the village.

Kohana left earlier, she and her friends wanted to be there for konohamaru.

I walked down the road heading to the hokage tower for the funeral. One thought was ringing through my mind.

Orochimaru killed the hokage, and my brother worked for him. He worked for the snake that attacked our clan, our village, killed our parents, our clan members, and our hokage. It was the only i could think about, my brother was now rogue, but only Sensei and i knew. we agreed to keep it a secret till we figure out more.

I made my way to the secon row once i was at the top of the hokage tower. I stood next to Hideo sensei on the second row, he was on my right with no one on my left. Kohana was standing next to Moegi.

It started to rain heavily, soaking everyone. All ninjas held in there tears. but there faces showed the sadness not onlt for the loss of the hokage but for all those who gave their lives.

The two village elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane stood infront of the crownd.

"We are gathered here" Homura started saying "To remember and honor not only the third hokage but all those who sacrficed themselves in this battle so that our village will survive"

I looked down, as Konohamru cried. I remembered my parents funeral. I didnt cry, i couldnt i needed to be strong i couldnt show my weakness. Iruka crouched giving Konohamru a hug trying to comfort him.

_-Flashback-_

_I stood infront of my parents grave after the funeral. My eyes no longer holding the spark that they used too._

_"You know its okay to cry" a voice said from behind me, i turned around to see the third hokage standing there._

_"Lord hokage" i greeted with a bow showing respect._

_"Your a kid, and even if shinobi shouldnt show emotions. you have every right to cry to let the pain out" he told me quietly, i looked back at my parents grave before turning around again to face him._

_"Excuse me lord hokage, but i need to go" i told him with a bow as i left_

_-end of flashback-_

__W stood in a line placing each a white flower, as i placed mine, I remembered the day i became a ninja a year after the incident, Hideo sensei was away on a mission, Kohana was still 2. and I was alone on that day, while everyone was with their family.

But that day the Hokage paid me a visit and congratulated me on it. He took care of everyone in the village. and he died protecting it.

I made my way back to where i was standing. as everyone did too. Kakashi was now standing on my left.

"Iruka sensei" Naruto said quietly "Why do they do it? why do people risk their lives for other people?"

I listened thoguhtfully as his question rang in mind.

"Well" Iruka started "When someone passes away, it's the end. His past and future, all his dreams he once had, they disappear along with him. This is true, even if he dies honorably in battle, as so many have, as Hayate did. All the ties that bind him to the living are servered, all but one, the most important of all... People. Parents, sibling, friend, lovers. The people that are important to him, and these people, the ones that he left behind are joined together in a great circle, by their shared memories of him. A circle of friendship, trust and sacrifice, that grows larger and stronger as time passes. It's hard to explain it, we remain in a circle forever, we have no choice. It's important to us."

"Hmm.. So we do it because we have to. I get it.. Sort of. Still, I'm sad he's gone." Naruto said as I just lowered my head thinking about my parents, my brother.

"Think of sad it would be if he died for nothing. But he left us something priceless. Don't worry, you'll understand one of these days." Kakashi told him

"Hey, give me some credit, that much I get." Naruto replied with a smirk, I looked up feeling the rain stop.

I looked towards the hokage's photo the light was shining on it. Like a sign sent to let everyone know he was in a better place.

But still i felt that tug in my heart, I made it my goal to find Yoshio, to bring him back. And when i found him, or rather he found me, we were on opposite sides.

Everyone started leaving, i turned around too. But was stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?" Hideo sensei asked in a whisper "Yeah, I just..." I closed my eyes, and tuned around ready to leave "I need to be alone"

I walked away not waiting for a replay.

I walked down the streets of Konoha as the rebulding was taking place. Lost in my thoughts, i let my feet lead the way.

_-Flashback-_

_"Rise and shine!" Someone shouted in my three year old ear._

_I pulled the covers more trying to block them out, till they were pulled away._

_I sat up with a yawn._

_"W-hat is it?" iI said groggily, rubbing my eyes To see my mother standing infront of me with a grin. All sleep gone, I jumped her with a hug._

_"Mommy!" I called with a wide smile "You're back!"_

_"Yup!" she told me returning the hug and carrying me "Another sucessful mission, and you know what? They gave me a couple of days off as a reward"_

_"Really?!" I asked excited_

_"Really! Really!" she answered as i cheered. "Lets get you ready and then we can go out"_

_"Cane we go out for some Dangos? Or go to the park? Or maybe we can go to the training field? I can show you how good i got!" She chuckled _

_"Ofcourse" she answered._

_-End of flashback-_

A frown was on my face as i rememberd my mother, how i was always happy when she got back from a mission, how she would get a few days off. How she spent them with me and we would do all kind of stuffs.

_-flashback-_

_"Daddy! did you see? I did it!" I cheered as i ran at my father, he picked my three year old self up ruffling my hair in the process._

_"You sure did" he told me with a chuckle "That was an advance jutsu i have to say I'm a little suprised you did it today"_

_"Hey! dont undertsimate me" I told him a little angered, I always hated when someone understemiated me, he chuckled._

_"I wont, iI learned my lesson" he told me, and i gave him a wide grin._

_-End of flashback-_

I remembered my father as he trained me, praised me. and took care of me. How he was always proud when i mastered a jutsu, or advanced in training, or just did something right.

_-Flashback-_

_"Suprise!" a five year old me shouted along with my mom, and someother people to a supised looking Yoshio._

_"What is all this for?" he asked us confused as he stared at everyone that atteneded_

_"It's not everyday someone becomes a jounin" my Mom told him_

_"Especially not at eleven"" My dad finished._

_"The party was You mother and sister's idea" Hideo sensei informed him._

_"But how did you even know?" he asked us "I just found out myself"_

_"Thats for us to know and for you to try and find out" my mom told him with a grin, he just shook his head and smiled._

_"Thanks anyway"_

_"You just wait Nii san" i told him "I'm going to become a jounin too, and before i turn eleven"_

_"I know you will" he told me with a chuckle as he ruffled my hair._

_-End of flashback-_

I remembered Yoshio, we teased each other, we spent time together, we were really close. I made it my goal to find him, just to find him working for the man that killed our parents.

I stopped in my tracks, to look at the gates of the graveyard. I made my ways throught it till i reached the ones at the very end. where our clan members were buired, making my way throught all the grave stones. I stopped at two crouching infront of them, my fingers traced their names.

_Akihiro Hiroshi and Katsumi Hiroshi_

__"It's been a while hasn't it?" I said outloud to no one looking down at the two names, "Come to think of it i never visited did i? Not since the funeral.

I guess the Third is with you now, I have lots of things I wanted to thank him for, but for some reason never got the chance. I have a little sister no, her name is Kohana. She lost her dad on that day. It was actually thanks to the Hokage that she was my sister. I mean can you Imagine how they reacted when a five year old asked to take care of a one year old"

_-flashback-_

_I was sitting in the clan meeting room, with the elders, Lord Fumio and the third hokage. We were gathered to talk about the clan loss, and being the only one alive of the head family, other than my grandfather who was back to being the head, I was going to become the next head of the clan, i needed to know how everything worked._

_"So 50 people died?" Lord Fumio asked the ninja standing infront of us._

_"Hai, and..." He looked thoughtful "...One of those who died had a little girl, a one year old. Her mother died at birth so the baby needs a family to take care of her, she is in the hosbital now, till we can find a prober home for her. others had kids too, but they still have a parent to take care of them"_

_My eyes widened, than droped to the ground with a frown, she was alone because of me. She lost her father in the attack that i was the target of._

_"Well then we wil-" Lord Fumio started but i cutted him._

_"I want to take care of her" I declared with determination, i wasnt going to let her feel alone, i will try to be her family as much as i can._

_"Dont be foolish" One of the elders said "Your a five year old, a kid that needs someone to take care of herself"_

_"I can do it, i might be a five year old, but I'm stronger and smarter, than a normal one"_

_"There is no wa-" Lord Fumio started but was cut not by me but by the hokage._

_"Maybe you should let her do it" He told them "Like she said she isnt your normal five year old, could you excuse us for a minute Sara?" he asked me i nodded, and with a bow stepped out._

_I wasnt sure what he told them, but when i was called in, i was grateful for what ever he said._

_"Fine then" Lord Fumio said "The girl will be put under your care"_

_-End of flashback-_

It was one of many things the hokage did for me, how i wished i thanked him, and how i wasnted to ask him what he told them that day.

"She's eight now, and on her way to becoming a ninja. I tried to be her family for the last seven years, i just hope she will forgive me, For when I'm gone" the last part came out as a whisper

"I didnt become a jounin before eleven like i said, actually I'm still a genin, and till a couple of month ago, i didnt have a constant team. Right now I'm on a team seven, with Naruto and Sasuke remember them, and girl named Sakura. actually after the accident i distanced myself from my friends, till about a month ago" I looked at their graves, and i reaslized tears was streaming down my cheeks.

"I miss you" I whispered "I miss when we spent our time together, when we laughed together, when things were simple, when we were happy." The tears fell down harder "I miss you, I tried to be strong but I cant its so hard to keep the pain inside, to pretend everythings alright, to be strong. Nothing is the same anymore, you too're gone, Nii san is gone. and Its all my fault, maybe if i didnt freeze that day, or if i was stronger, you would dtill be here, Nii san would still be here. we would still be a family, we aould still be happy" Images of them played in my mind as the tears kept coming, and I couldnt stop them.

I cried all the tears, the ones i wanted to cry for the last seven years.

"I never visited, afraid that i would break. that I would break my promise" It was silent after that except for my sopping and whimpring, Till a hand was placed on my shoulder, as he crouched beside me.

"It wasnt your fault" Hideo sensei told me quietly as he looked at my parents graves "Even if you were smart, strong, you were a kid. no one expected you to fight. and Your parents gave their lives, to protect whats precious to them, to protect you and the clan. I know that it hurts, and the pain never goes away, but you learn to live with it. And the most important thing to remember is that you're not alone, you have a sister that loves you, friends that care about you, and people that will never let you fall"

I looked at him with eyes widened, before turning to my parents graves.

"And Yoshio, we will find him, we will bring him back. He may have a good reason for doing what he did, and he will explain to us as we bring him back, even if we drag him back" I chuckled a little at his last phrase.

"I guess i was going to cry at some point" i told him quietly.

"You're human, we all are. even if we are shinobi we arent machines that doesnt have emotions. we fall in love, make friends, and feel pain. but its the good that makes us withstand the bad"

"You can be really deep sensei" i told him jockingly, but i took his words to heart.

"Dont you need to go Kohana is looking for you every where" he told me, I stood up taking a last look at the two graves.

"I will have to make up for seven years worth of visits" I whispered to myself "See you later sensei" i told him with a wave as i left. Feeling the some sort of relief wash over me.

**Naruto Pov**

"Bye Iruka sensei, see you later!" I hsouted as I ran towards Kakashi sensei, Sasuke and Sakura.

"Alright" He replied

"So what sre you guys going to do for the rest of the day?" I asked hands behind my head as we started walking away. I turned my gaze to Sara who was walking infront of us.

"Hey Sara!" I called but got no reply.

"She looked really down" Sakura said.

"Yeah" i agreed as we saw Sara take a turn, "Lets go see whats wrong" I declared as i jumbed on the roofs following her quietly, i looked beside me to see Sakura and Sasuke on each side of me watching her too.

We kept following her quietly till she reached the graveyard, she walked through it we hid in one of the close trees, our eyes following her movements. till she stopped at two graves.

"It's been a while hasn't it?" she said outloud to no one looking down at the two names, "Come to think of it i never visited did i? Not since the funeral.

I guess the Third is with you now, I have lots of things I wanted to thank him for, but for some reason never got the chance. I have a little sister no, her name is Kohana. She lost her dad on that day. It was actually thanks to the Hokage that she was my sister. I mean can you Imagine how they reacted when a five year old asked to take care of a one year old" she chuckled quietly at the end.

"She's eight now, and on her way to becoming a ninja. I tried to be her family for the last seven years" she whispered somethin at the end, and we saw the tears stream down her face quietly, all three of us were quiet, we didnt want her to find us. and we wanted to know what happened

"I didnt become a jounin before turning eleven like i said, actually I'm still a genin, and till a couple of month ago, i didnt have a constant team. Right now I'm on a team seven, with Naruto and Sasuke remember them, and girl named Sakura. actually after the accident i distanced myself from my friends, till about a month ago"

"I miss you" she whispered a little louder "I miss when we spent our time together, when we laughed together, when things were simple, when we were happy." The tears fell down harder "I miss you, I tried to be strong but I cant its so hard to keep the pain inside, to pretend everythings alright, to be strong. Nothing is the same anymore, you too're gone, Nii san is gone. and Its all my fault, maybe if i didnt freeze that day, or if i was stronger, you would dtill be here, Nii san would still be here. we would still be a family, we aould still be happy" I frowned, she was hurting, but always showed us a smile no matter what

"I never visited, afraid that i would break. that I would break my promise" It was silent after that except for her sopping and whimpring, Till a hand was placed on her shoulder, as her sensei crouched beside her.

"It wasnt your fault" Hideo sensei told her quietly as he looked at her parents graves "Even if you were smart, strong, you were a kid. no one expected you to fight. and Your parents gave their lives, to protect whats precious to them, to protect you and the clan. I know that it hurts, and the pain never goes away, but you learn to live with it. And the most important thing to remember is that you're not alone, you have a sister that loves you, friends that care about you, and people that will never let you fall"

"And Yoshio, we will find him, we will bring him back. He may have a good reason for doing what he did, and he will explain to us as we bring him back, even if we drag him back" she chuckled a little at his last phrase.

"I guess i was going to cry at some point" she told him quietly.

"You're human, we all are. even if we are shinobi we arent machines that doesnt have emotions. we fall in love, make friends, and feel pain. but its the good that makes us withstand the bad"

"You can be really deep sensei" she told him jockingly, but i took his words to heart.

"You know, if she finds you she will probably kill you" A voice said behind us startled to find Kakashi sensei.

"Come out now" Someone ordered from the ground, we turned to see Sara gone and her sensei looking at where we were hiding.

**Hideo sensei**

The three genins came down, walking to me looking down, with Kakashi following behind them.

"Dont tell anyone about what you saw or heared, not even Sara!" I ordered them, Sara never liked it when someone saw her weak side "You three are lucky she didnt catch you"

"Hai" they mumbeled as they walked away. I sighed.

"Since when do you think Yoshio is alive?" Kakashi questioned as the three genins were out of sight.

"I guess i should tell you what happened" I told him as we both left the graveyard quietly"


	27. Chapter 25

**Hideo Pov**

"Are you sure it was him?" Kakashi asked me after i told him what happened in the forest during the attack, we were standing at the KIA stone.

"Sadly yes, and it was defiantly his chakra signature" I answered him

"No wonder Sara broke down" he said "she did make it her goal to find him, and she was the only one that thought he was alive"

"She still trying to deal with it, but I'm sure that she is still going to try and bring him back"

"She was never one to give up easily" he said as a ninja jumbed infront of us.

'Lord Fumio wantss to see you Hideo" he informed.

"I will be right there" I told him he nodded and left.

"I guess we will talk later" I told Kakashi as he looked down at the KIA stone.

"Later then"

I flickered to our clan compound.

**Sara Pov**

"Just give him some time" I told Kohana as we walked in the streets, along with Moegi and Udon "He just going to need sometime to adjust, but you just have to be there for him when he is ready" She sighed.

"I guess, I just hate to see him so sad" she said as the other two nodded in agreement.

"Its hard guys to lose someone, but he is going to get through it" I told them as we passed Naurto, Sasuke and Sakura.

"Hey guys!" I called and their heads snapped in my direction with a small frown.

"Hey Sara" Sakura replied with a too obvious fake smile.

"Whats wrong guys?" I asked them slowly "Is it because of the hokage?"

"A bit yeah" she answered. But before i could question them anymore, a ninja from my clan jumped infront of us.

"Lord Fumio wants to see you, Lady Sara" he told me.

"Just Sara" I told him a bit irritated, "And i will be right there" he nodded and jumped away.

"I will see you later guys" I told everyone as i flickered to our clan combound, infront of the meeting building.

"You too sensei" I told Hideo sensei who was there too, he nodded.

I sighed and knocked on the door.

"Come in" A voice said from behind it.

I opened the door, and entered followed by Hideo sensei, Inside was Lord Fumio and the two clan elders, Takashi and Keiji.

I bowed in respect, as did Hideo sensei.

"We have a problem" Lord Fumio spoke "Looks like Danzo wastes no time, He already wants a meeting with us"

Lets say when Danzo formed root, he forced all clans to give him atleast one member, all clans but ours, since our clan was very loyal to the third. and with his death, he will try and make us do the same.

"we decided to send you in our place" Takashi said "As the heiress to the head of the clan, you will handle this task. and we agreed to one guard each, So Hideo will go with you, Understood?"

"Hai" Hideo sensei and I replied.

"The meeting is set for tommorow morning at seven, in the anbu building" Keiji informed us.

"Thats all, you're dismissed" Lord Fumio told us and we turned around to leave, after bowing.

"What are you going to do?" Hideo sensei asked as we walked away. "Dealing with someone like Danzo Isnt easy" I smirked

"I know, that why i have everything set. You just wait and see"

We made our way to the Anbu building the next day. Determination filled me, i was sure this was going to be hard but this wasnt the first time i stood up to Danzo, and this time i was prepared.

"You ready?" Hideo sensei asked me as we stood infront of the Anbu building.

"Yeah" i answered with determination as i took the lead.

"What did you come here for?" An Anbu asked as he jumbed infront of us.

"We're supposed to meet Lord Danzo" I told him he nodded.

"Follow me" he told us as he walked inside the building with us following.

We followed him through th corridors of the building till we reached a door on the second floor.

"He is waiting inside the guard stays at the door" He informed us, Hideo sensei was about to object but i inervened before he could.

"Okay then" i said as i opened the door, and entered closing it behind me, Inside was an office with Danzo setting at the wooden desk.

"Lord Danzo" i greeted as I took a seat at the desk.

"Miss Sara, I cant say i was expecting them to send you" He told me with a smirk, Probably thought this was going to be easier for him.

"It was more of a last minute decision" I told him quietly, maybe i hated being understimated but it was quiet helpful.

"Well then I was wondering who from your clan will join root?" He asked me.

"No one actually" i told him "And if you try and approach my clan, then things will get messy and some secrets will be leaked"

"Oh and what secrets are we talking about" he said amuesment leaced in his voice.

"Let me think" i said as I put a finger to my chin "I think it was about your hidden Sharingan in your right eye" As i said that his eye widened for a fraction of second in suprise,before they returned to his usual expression "Or the ten in your right arm"

"Oh, and what makes you believe something like that?" he asked me as i smirked.

"Wll lets say thats for me to know and for you to never know, but i can tell you that i'm one hundred precent sure. and ofcourse you have the right to deny it. but if this was something to go out, you will be asked to prove me wrong. and i think you wouldnt want something like that"

"Is that a threat?" he asked me clearly annoyed

"Yes it is. Now i will keep it a secret if you stay the hell away from my clan." I finished and stood up heading for the door.

"Oh and one more thing" I said turning around before i opened the door "If you do send someone to kill me, or if i die, i already made sure that your secrets will make it out"

I left the office, leaving him irriteated.

"Lets go Hideo sensei" I said cheerfully as I started walking away.

**Danzo Pov**

'How did she know? not even my subordinates know about that, and she didnt seem shaken, she threatened me easily. and if what she says is true the secret wont die with her'

"Lord Danzo is something wrong?" One of the root anbu asked as he stoo dinfront ofme.

"Nothing important but put someone to watch Sara Hiroshi"

"Hai" he replied as he left I was going to make sure no one else findes out by any means necessary.

**Sara Pov**

I was walking through village, Hideo sensei left earlier to go on a mission. And i just finished repeorting to The clan elders about the meeting.

In a second an orange blob passed me at crazy speed.

'What's up with Naruto'

'You say it like the kid is never this hyper' Yami told me mockingly.

'Yeah yeah'

'that chakra'

I started jumbing on roof tops, till i reached a forest part jumbing through the trees, i hid my chakra sign as i approached a place near water.

I see Kakashi, with his headband up revealing his sharingan, Kurenai and Asuma standing, infront of a person wearing black cloaks with red clouds. One i recognized his chakra, and it would explain why Kurenai and Asuma had their eyes closed. another was standing behind the fence, he was wearing the same clock, I recognized his swrod from a book i read. The samehada.

'What are two S-ranked criminals doing here?'

I saw that Kakashi was panting hard despite he was only standing in his place. Whuch meant he was caught in Itachi's genjutsu.

Suddenly Kakashi collabsed on the water. Pulling a kunai from my weapons pouch i got ready to jump out.

"Kakashi" Kurenai and Asuma called as they heared the water splash.

'Great day to leave my Katana at home'

"What is it? Can we open our eyes now?" Kurenai asked

"No" Kakashi grumbled, as he panted hard.

"What just happened?One second the guy's talking, and the next second you hit the ground" Asuma asked

I jumbed out of hiding, aiming for Itachi but was blocked, by the Samehada, I jumbed above Itachi and landed infront of a kneeling Kakashi.

"What a kid doing here?" Kisame Hoshigaki asked mockingly.

"Dont understimate her she might be a kid, but she is a strong one" Itachi told him monotonly.

"Long time no see Itachi" I told him "What would bring you back after all this years?"

"Dont look him in the eyes!" Kakashi warned.

"Dont worry I have a way to resist it" I turned around showing him my eyes that were now golden instead of their usual brown. "I did my homework after all"

"dont over use those eyes of yours you know thats dangerous" Kisame told Itachi raisning my curosity.

"Are you here for Sasuke?" I asked him

"No" He answered "We are here for the legacy of the fourth hokage"

'Naruto! So they're after the nine tails'

Kisame and Asukma gasbed, i kept an emotionless face.

"What is he talking about? what is he after?" Kurenai asked

"The nine tails spirit inside of Naruto, Thats what your after" Kakashi said "You're not the only ones are you? There are eight more of you out there, Searching, Hunting. I know all about you. You call yourselves the Akatsuki, Right?"

"Akatsuki?" I questioned, I saw itachi and Kisame flinch.

"Kisame! we'll take Kakashi with us, But we dont need the others" Itachi told Kismae "Get rid of them"

"Not on my watch" I told him as Kisame came running towards us, I did some quick handsigns. "Water styile: Great wave: I put my arms on the water below us, a great wave came aimed at him and Itachi, they both jumbed in the air avoiding it.

I smirked when two of my clones jumbed out of hiding, one managed to kick Kismae sending him towards the water, but the other was finished off by Itachi.

I heared Kakashi drop toward the water, jumbing back quickly i held him from falling.

My clone held him and I made some quick handsigns, "Light barrier second stage!" I said and a two layer light barrier appeared around us.

"Open your eyes guys" I told them.

"But.." Kurenai was about to object but i cutted her.

"Dont worry i took care of that" i assured them, they slowly opened their eyes, My clone handed Kakashi to Asuma, and i tried to say still to keep the barrier up."As soon as i drop the barrier you have to get out of here" i told them

"We cant leave you here alone!" Kurenai objected.

"Yes you can I'm only one that Itachi cant affect with his sharingan" I told her "You need to go and get help i will try to hold them for as long as possible"

"Even if your strong you cant face two S-ranked criminals alone" Asuma told me.

"I know. like i said I'm going to hold them off till you get help besides, Kakashi needs medical attention" The both looked down at Kakashi before Kurenai sighed.

"Fine but dont do anything reckless" She warned me.

"Dont worry, Ready?" I asked

"Yeah" The replied and I dropped the barrier, the both jumbed away immediatly with Kakashi.

"Where do you think your going?" Kisame asked going after them.

"I dont think so" I said as I appeared infront of Kisame blocking him. "Your fighting me"

He grinned, "You a think a kid like you stands a chance against someone like me"

"We will just have to see" I told him with a smirk.

"Kisame lets go"Itachi murmered "We are not here to engage in a fight"

"You were lucky this time" Kisame sneered as they both dissapereared.

Once i was sure they were gone I let my eyes back to their normal brown, and started panting hard because of exhaustion of using my light energy for that long.

Guy jumbed infront of me in a battle stance, when he saw no enemy he started looking around, before he turned to me.

"Where is the enemy?" he asked "Kurenai and Asuma told me that you needed help with two S-ranked criminals"

"You're a little late" i informed him as i tried to steady my breathing, Anime tears poured down his face.

"No! I wasnt fast enough, I will have to punish my self for that, A thou-" I cutted him before he could start his usual speeches.

"How is Kakashi?"

"Huh?" he blinked at me "I dont know for sure" I sighed.

"Okay then, you go check on Kakashi , I will look for naruto. And Kurenai and A suma will explain everything, so lets move" I told him and jumbed away before he could reply.

'Now if i was Naruto where would I be?' I thought to myself.

' try that ramen shop' Yami told me 'The kid is basically obsessed with ramen'

'I guess you got a point there' I told him as i made my way to ichiraku.

I entered it to find it empty.

"Mr Teuchi, Have you seen Naruto?" I asked

"Yeah, He met with master Jiraya, the said they were going to travel somewhere"

"Thanks" I said as I ran outside heading for the village gates.

'Its a good thing he has Jiraya with him, but being away from the village is pretty risky'

I bit my thumb and did some hand signs, "Summoning jutsu!"

Sadao appeared along with Kei, Miyuki, and another dove but this one had a blue circlet around his neck, and was slightly bigger then Kei and Miyuki, his name was Ichiro.

I jumbed on Sadao as he took off into the sky.

"Sadao already explained everything to you, Right?" I asked

"Yeah" the three doves replied.

"Ok then, Kei Go to the elders of the village tell them i went with Lord Jiraya and Naruto, then tell the same thing to my clan elders. Miyuki you tell Kohana i had an emergency mission, and then go and check out how Kakashi is doing and tell me. Ichiro i need you to grab my Katana and a bag i have ready for missions from my room"

"Hai" All three of them replied dissapearing in a puff of smoke.

"You okay?" Sadao asked me as we traveled in the air, trying to look for Itachi, Kisame, Naruto OR Jiraya's chakra.

"Yeah, why wont I be?" i told him with a smile.

"Well, Itachi was like another big brother to you, fighting him couldnt have been easy" He informed me

"I cant keep thinking like that, i wont kill him or try to harm him, but if he goes after Naruto or the village, Its the only choice I have"

Ichiro appeared on Sadao, with my black backbag, and my Katana, I took them butting them on.

"Thanks Ichiro" I told him

"No problem, anything else?" he asked

"No you can go" as i said that he dissapeared.

"Itachi's up ahead" I informed Sadao when sensed Itachi's chakra.

"Hai" he replied and then Kei and Miyuki.

"I told both elders, they said its fine" Kei told me

"Kakashi is in a coma, and..." she said a little hesitant "..Sasuke found out about Itachi, and he is on his way after Naruto"

"Okay then you two go" she nodded and dissapeared in a puff of smoke. Sadao landed us a little distance away from Itachi and Kisame, but I sensed another chakra sign with them. and I could sense Naruto's chakra further, which meant they were watching him.

'There are three peoble, and I could see Naruto with a guy with white hair in a distance' Sadao informed me

I slowly and quietly made my way to them, Sadao watched them from the sky. suddenly the third chakra sign dissapeared, I frowned and unsheathed my Katana, i made my way to them.

' One of them just turned to...Sand?' Sadao told me unsurely

'What are you ta-' I didnt finish, i turned around blocking a kick, but it was pretty hard, and sent me flying out of the bushes and towards Itachi and Kisame.

I took a halt infront of those two, and the person that kicked me appeared out of the bushes, making me surronded. We were standing on a high cliff.

I took a look at the Guy that kicked me, he had Brown shaggy hair, He looked about my age or a year older, he had Silver eyes,and was wearing the same cloak and a smirk on his face.

"Look who we have here" Kisame said with a grin "You wont be as lucky as last time"

"Lets go Kisame, Ryuu take care of her" Itachi ordered

"My pleasure" Ryuu answered, as Itachi and Kisame jumbed away. "So i get to fight the famous Light princess"

"So You know who Iam, But I dont know who you are" I told him trying to search for his face in anything i read or in the bingo book, but I came out with nothing.

"Let me introduce my self. My name is Ryuu Yama" he informed me, but i still didnt recognize his name. But that didnt matter, What mattered was to finish the battle as fast as possible.

'Sadao go after Naruto and Lord Jiraya'

"But..' He tried to object but i cutted him

'Now, i will be fine, but Iam sure Itachi and Kisame will try some trick to seberate them'

'Hai' as soon as he thought to me, I focused on Ryuu he was in a fighting stance, staring at me with a smirk, I stared back but kept an expressionless face.

'He was just a distraction, so he probably wouldnt be making the first move. He also managed to jumb me when i was hiding , so he was a sensor, with great chakra control, and he was very strong from that kick of his.'

'So you're screwed' Yami told me, making me sweatdrop mentally.

I still had my katana in hand, thankfully i didnt lose it when he kicked me earlier. I sheathed it.

"So you're gonna give up already" He said amused

"Far from it" I told him and appeared infront of him sending a punch, he caught my hand. I sent a kick he caught my leg with his other hand. I smirked and focused my Dark chakra making a layer surrond my body, it burned him. He hissed and let go jumbing back.

"I thought you were the light princess?" he questioned

"The bingo book really need to keep up to date" I told him as the dark layer faded away.

I did some quick hand signs,"Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!" I shouted jumbing the air and blowing a fire to where he was standing. Wge i finished the place he was standing in was empty.

'Right left up down' I thought as i looked for him but came out with nothing.

"I have to say" A voice said, his voice, but i couldnt locate him. till i saw dust started gathering at where he stood "You pack a mean fire jutsu, it's as strong as Itachi's" My eyes were now wide, the dust took shape, taking his shape.

'Is it a clone?'

"my turn" He said and started making hand signs, i started making my own too."Earth Style: Earth Dragon""Water style: Great wave" we said at the same time, we both hit our hands on the ground. Water came out from my side, and an earth dragon from his.

His Dargon overpowered my wave, and was heading straight for me. I quickly jumbed away, and the dragon hit the spot where i stood. When my feet hi the ground, i turned quickly punching him in the face when he appeared behind me, But my hand went through when a part of his face turned to dust.

Whe my hand was past his face, his hand caught my wrist in an iron grib. He was strong, I couldnt even land a hit, I let dark chakra surrond me again, causing him to get burned, and let go of me.

"Shadow clone jutsu" I yelled jumbing back, and thre cloned appeared, we surronded him.

"This is getting fun" He said and turned to sand, I looked around trying to find him, but suddenly my clones and I were surronded by a sand storm.

My clones dissappeared, and I made hand signs quickly, as the storm got tougher "Light barrier second stage" I said and a barrier formed around me keeping the storm out, but I was panting hard, I wasnt used to using my Light element so much, and i was still getting used to my Dark energy.

The barrier was barely holding on. "Wind tornado!" A voice yelled, as the sandstorm was pushed away, revealing Sadao. I dropped the barrier, and he came beside me.

"So It's two against one now" Ryuu said and i could practially hear the smirk forming on his face. "This should be fu-" He didnt finishe as someone sutted him.

"Ryuu lets go" Itachi ordered appearing with Kisame, and thankfully no Naruto with them.

"Dow we have to? it was starting to get interesting." he whined "I guess we will finish it later then" he finished looking at me as all three of them jumbed away.

I sighed, and rode Sadao. We took off into the sky.

"So what happemed with Naruto?" I asked worriedly.

"He is okay" he assured me "By the time i caught up to them he wasnt with Jiraya. he fell to a trick by Itachi and Kisame. I convinced him to go to Naruto, when we got to him he was with Itachi and Kisame. and Sasuke was there too. Jiraya tried to interven but Sasuke wouldnt let him or anyone else get in the fight between Him and Itachi. Itachi used his sharingan on Sasuke. That was when Jiraya intervened and drove them away i came here right afterwards"

As he finished a frown was on my face i knew how Sasuke felt, I wouldnt want anyone to fight Yoshio but me, the difference was i wasnt sure if i actually could fight Yoshio, if I could hurt him...Sadao didnt say, but I knew Sasuke was probably in the same condition as Kakashi right now.

"-By whatever jutsu that was, that Itachi used on him" I heared someone say as Sadao flied through a hole in the wall of an inn, he took a turn and stopped at a corridor where Jiraya and Guy was standing, Sasauke was leaned against a wall with Naruto standing infront of him.

"Pervy sage Sasuke is going to be alright thought isnt he?" Naruto asked and my frown deepened.

"Physically yes, but I'm worried about what could have done to his mind" Jiraya informed Naruto,he started shaking

"If we get him the right help" I said and everyone turned noticing me, I walked closer to Sasuke placing my hand on his forehead, my hands were covered with a green aura. before i dropped them.

"The damage is pretty bad, i dont think any of the medical ninjas back at the village could help him" I said with a frown.

"Heck, what did Sasuke ever do to deserve this?" Naruto asked "Okay pervy sage its time for a new game plan starting right now. I admit i let those goons scare me a little but thats over. no more running! after all it's me they're after right? well okay then its time to give them what they want"

"Naruto,they're way beyond your league, you cant just go after them" i told him standing up"

"Nice speech kid! But I'm afraid Sara's right. you dont stand a chance against them" Jiraya agreed "what would have happened if i havent shownup right now, huh? it took all i had to get them away from you"

"Is that right? so what are you suggesting? that we just do nothing? sit here waiting for them to hit us again? What kind of strategy is that?" Naruto asked

"Just be quiet!" Jiraya yelled at him. Naruto looked away. "You havent earned the right"

"Naruto you have to understand, you cant keep rushing into things like that. besides the priority lies in finding help for Sasuke and Kakashi. there's someone who could help them, but we have to look for her" I whispered to Naruto as Guy and Jiraya talked.

"There's nothing worse than seeing your students fall in battle, its like losing little pieces of your soul" I turned to guy as he talked "what we need is a supreme medical specialist, a master of healing arts and soon"

"There is only one person that can heal this level of injuries" i added thoughtfully.

"you're right, and the women you're talking about is the one we have come to find" jiraya told us, causing Naruto, guy and I to be shocked.

"The women?" Guy questioned.

'Why did they go after her in the first place? and could we actually find her' was the two questiones that rang through my mind.


	28. Chapter 26

**Sara Pov**

****"Alright Guy! we'll leave Ssauke in your hands" Jiraya said as him, Naruto and I stood facing, Guy who was carrying Sasuke on his back. we were standing at the village entrance and I had already sent Sadao to do something for me.

"Master Jiraya, find lady Tsunada and bring her back to us" Guy requested.

"Dont worry you can count on us" Naruto replied with determination."we'll have her back in the village in no time"

'Hopefully we will' I thought to myself but tried to keep a smile on my face.

Jiraya ruffled Naruto's hair with a chuckle.

"Naruto nothing impresses me more than guts kid" Guy infomed Naruto "come here let me give you this" he said as he reached inside his vest. "Lee got stronger with this"

"Really what is it?" Naruto asked excited

Guy showed us his signature pose, as he pulled another on of his splendex suits.

my face fell, and my shoulders dropped as i stared at the suit with a bit of disgust..I mean lots of disgust.

'He carries one on him?' Yami wondered

'Thats Guy for ya' i thought to Yami as Guy went on explaining all about the suit.

"Its breathable, retains moister and offers complete freedom of movement all in one sweet package" he said and I think I gagged in my mouth "If you wear it while you train you will notice a difference in median. It really grow on ya, pretty soon you'll be wearing them all the time. just like Lee. I've got a bit fond of them myself"

"Oh man!" Naruto shouted excited while jumbing into the air, making me animefall.

I stood beside Jiraya watching Naruto take it happily from Guy and my eyes were twitching'.

"Pretty cool huh?" Naruto asked us after Guy started walking away, making me sweatdrop, and my eyebrows twitch even more.

"Dont even think about it, Look at that guy" Jiraya told him "Man, now that is goofy"

We walked down the dirt road quietly.

'You've got to be kidding me' I thought to myself, as i stopped in my tracks.

"You guys go ahead, I need to..uh..do something. I'll follow right away " I informed Jiraya and Naruto.

Jiraya raised an eyebrow at me in question. But didn't ask anything.

"OK then be careful" Jiraya told me as he walked away. Naruto was about to say something but i beat him to it.

"Don't worry Naruto" I told him "I just forget something i'm not going somewhere far" He nodded and ran to catch up with Jiraya.

I walked off the dirt road and headed into the forest, and kept walking till i was pretty deep inside.

**? Pov**

I followed her quietly in the trees, as she walked into the forest alone. After a while of walking she stopped suddenly before disappearing from my sight.

"You know i don't really appreciate being followed" a voice said from behind me and i was thrown out of the trees.

**Sara Pov**

I kicked the ninja out of the trees and he hit the ground. I appeared infront of him and pushed him against a tree with my Katana to his neck. He was wearing an ANBU mask, so i knew exactly who sent him.

"Danzo should really learn not to understimate me" I said with a poker face.

"You dont look strong" the boy said emotionlessly, and it didnt look like a pretend. It was like he really didnt feel.

"You're not in a positon to say that" i told him pushing my katana harder against his neck "now lets start with a simple question. what's your name?"

"I cant tell you that, it will compromise my mission."

"It's already is, so answer the question"

He was quiet for a second , before answering "My name is Sai"

"That wasnt hard now, was it?" i said as i backed away and sheathed my katana "You already know who iam. so lets get this done. this is what you're going to do. you're going to go back to the village, and tell Danzo that i dont appreciate being followed, and unless he wants me to spill some secrets, he would better not send someone to follow me, got it?"

He didnt reply, but i turned around and started to walk away before i stoped again and turned my head to look at him.

"Oh and if you follow me again, i will kill you" i told him before i turned around and started going back in the direction i came from.

I kept walking following Jiraya's and Naruto's chakra till i reached the dirt road.

"..I suppose with the nine tails sealed up inside of you, they might be thinking of somehow seazing control of that power, bending it to their will" I heared Jiraya say as i walked out of the forest. "It's a bitter pill to swallow knowing that those two will be after you now, But that is your fate. and not to worry though, after all you wil have me around" he finished.

"Oh will, i'll just have to hurry up and get stronger. No other choice" Naruto replied determinedly

"You will have me too Naruto, as long Iam around no way i wil let someone hurt my friends" I told them as they both turned to me

"Alright, now that Sara is here we're ready to go. Lets find this Tsunada women you're talking about, so she can fix up Sasuke, and we get down to some serious training" Naruto said with determination.

'That kid really got his head up in the clouds' Yami said mockingly

'Maybe, but you cant help but believe in him' I told him as i smiled.

We were walking again down the dirt road, when Jiraya tunred to Naruto.

"What now?" he asked him.

"This beautiful woman that you've got us out here scouting around for, is she the Tsuanda that you mentioned?" Naruto asked making me sweatdrop.

'he just noticed' i thought to myself with a sweatdrop

'He is even dumber than i thought' Yami said with a chuckle

"Hey not bad kid, you're pretty sharp arent ya? why? what's on your mind?" Jiraya asked him

"when you said she was one of the three legendery sanins, the same as you right, pervy sage?" Naruto asked him

"That's right, what's your point already?" Jiraya asked him

"how old is she?" Naruto asked

"Same age as me" Jiraya replied with a thumbs up."By the way Sara, you never said what got you late?" Jiraya asked turning to me.

"Late for what?" i asked confused

"back at the inn your bird got me to Naruto, but you weren't there what held ya?" he explained

"Oh, i fought a third Akatsuki member" i answered like it was no big deal.

"You fought a third one?" Naruto asked shocked "all alone?"

"yeah, but...the problem is that i dont recognize him from my bingo book" i said "His name was Ryuu Yama, does it ring any bells?" I asked Jiraya

"Not that i rememeber, so were you able to finish him?" he answered

"No Itachi and Kisame got back and all three ran away' i answered him "I already sent Sadao to My sensei for his bingo book, maybe he've got an idea who that guy is"

"Why didnt you send one of your doves, wouldnt have been faster?" he asked me

"well yeah but he is on a mission, so it would be disrtacting if a bird appeared out of no where" i said before i stopped in my tracks and turned to him "Wait a sec, i never showed or told you about my doves, so how do you know about them?"

"Uhh.. Naruto told me" he replied

"Naruto doesnt know either, you better tell me the truth" i told him

"lets say i knew another summoner that summoned them" he said and started walking again.

"But that's impossible unless..." I walked up to him, and stood infront of him "You knew my mom?"

"well" he said scratching his chin "I knew your family" i was completely shocked my parents never told me that they knew a sanin nor did Yoshio.

"How are they by the way?" he asked taking me by suprise, I saw Naruto frown beside him "I didnt see them back at the village figured that they were on a mission or something"

"You dont know?" I asked a frown forming on my face, before I turned around, trying to keep my voice straight "My parents died seven years ago, and Yoshio is...MIA"

"What?" he asked suprised, i turned around my frown repleaced with a fake smile.

"Lets go we're getting no where standing here" i said turning to them, before I darted ahead.

"So what's this Tsunada lady like anyway?" Naurto asked after a while of walking in silence.

"Ah, curious are ya?" Jiraya asked him

"Yeah" Naruto answered

"I cant say i'm not a little curious too" I said joining the conversation "I only know what i read about her skills, but nothing came directly about her. except that she is known for her gambling issue" i finished thoughtfully

"What can i tell ya?" Jiraya said thoughtfully "Well for one thing she is kind of a pleasent, plus i guess there is the fact, like Sara said, that she is known far and wide as a die hard gambler and all"

"Great this should be a piece of cake then if she is as famous as all that" Naruto said cheerfully

"Oh she's famous alright, you might even call her legendery sucker" Jiraya told us with a grin "But as legendery as a sucker she may be, I doupt she's gonna all be that easy to find"

I sighed. 'I know i tried to catch news of her but she always disappeared before i could get to her.'

"Why what makes you say tha?t" Naruto asked

"She is not the type to grow old gracefully, probably using somekind of jutsu to mask her appearence" Jiraya informed us, making me look at him with confusion "She is actually fifty years old , but I'm sure she will look more like she did in her twenties.

That's not all, the word on the wind I hear of late is she started transforming to her 30's her 40's all to get away from her depts"

"That's awfull" Naruto said shaking his head, while i stayed quiet and looked at the ground lost in thought

'That would would explain why i never could find her, she's always on the move she could look different amd i would never know, she has the skill to trick high level ninja and that would make her almost impossible to find.

Ofcouse having one of her former teammates would make things a bit easier since he knows her. But then again she've done all that to hide herself, even if we do find her would she agree to come with us? would she agree to help us?'

"Hey ! We dont have time for this" Naruto shouted bringing me out of my thoughts they had stopped walking "come on! do you have a plan to finding her or what?"

"Not exactly" He answered "We might've a little work ahead of us, but I'm sure we would come up with something"

"So after all you said about you dont even have a plan to find her?" I asked with a sweat drop. "You do realise we are short on time right?"

"Yeah, dont you have the slightest idea how long this is going to take, do you?" Naruto asked

"Not a minute would be wasted" He answered us confusing both of us. "All our time on the road would be devoted solely to you, Naruto"

"To me ?" Naruto wondered, But i didnt question it, since he properly took Naruto to train him in the first place, afterall i was one who intruded on the travel.

"We've got to get ya stronger" he said turning to Nauto "Time to train!"

No sooner had he said the words than Naruto dropped his bag both mu face and Jiraya's fell when we saw him take out the spendix suit Guy gave him.

"Ok!" Naruto said happily as Jiraya crouched to his level.

"Wait!wait! wait for one second look i already told ya i'm not having that" Jiraya said as Naruto started to stretch it around " i dont want to seen walking around with someone wearing that..that thing"

"Neither do I " I said "Naruto give it to me" I ordered Naruto. before pulling it from his hands.

I threw it behind us, and started making handsigns "Fire ball jutsu!" I yelled and blowed a fireball at it burning it to crisbs.

Once I was done I dusted my hands as anime tears poured down Naruto's face.

"Trust me it's for your own good" I informed him hands on my hips.

"Huh Man! this is gonna be great, I 've never seen anything like this before In my life" Naruto said looking all over the festival, we were now on a town stopped at on the way.

"well time's important so go on and have a little fun both of ya before we start Naruto's training" Jiraya told us "This festival will be going on for a while, we'll hung down here till its over than we will start training here too"

"All right!" Naruto cheered before he took a full frog eallet from his back bag.

"Oh baby that is one fat frog you got" Jiraya told Naruto happily "You're filthy rich"

I left them talking and started walking around the festival, Laughing could be heard every where, along with music. Families, couples and friends were walking together and enjoying the festival.

'Kohana would have loved this for sure' I thought to myself happily.

"Could i have a dango order please?" I requested when i found a dango stand.

"Here you go" the lady at the counter told me as she handed me the order and i gave her the money i took from my bag

"Thank you"

I was now siting on one of the high grass areas enjoying the quiet after i finished my dangos.

'I wonder sometimes Yami, how come you're actually here in my mind or whatever? Or if you're just a part of my imagination? maybe even you're there just because of my stupid tumor?' I thought to Yami.

'Think of it as you want but I'm in no way a part of your imagination, as for why I'm here.. well the reason..is something I dont plan to tell ya till ia\'m sure you're worth my trust which isnt easily earned'

'Who knows if i will even have the ime to earn you're trust? But i will just have to add it to my to-do list beside saving Yoshio' I thought with a sad smile.

"Hey Sara!" I heard someone call, I looked up to see Naruto walking with Jiraya following him.

"Hey Naruto! Um.. what you got there Lord Jiraya?" I asked when I noticed the bag Jiraya was carrying.

"You'll see now" He said setting the bag down "Now come on Naruto time to start your training"

"Alright! it's finally time to get down to business" Shouted Naruto as I leaned against the fence surrounding the area,

"Here you go have a water ballon" Jiraya said as he threw the ballon to naruto

"What the heck is this for?"

"Well Since this is Naruto's training" I said as i started walking away " You dont need me here right now i will come back later"

"Ok" Naruto shouted as he focused on Jiraya again.


	29. Chapter 27

**Sara Pov**

I kicked the final clone making it disappear The sun was already setting and it had been hours since i left Naruto training with Jiraya.

I didn't waste my time when i left them and started practicing my taijutsu against clones...lots of clones.

I wasn't tired yet but my training did get interrupted by a poof of smoke in my face.

"Thank god you're okay" Came a female voice that i recognized, as something landed on my head.

"Miyuki, what got you worried?" I asked her as i picked her up gently in my hands.

"Sadao tried to use your mind connection when he got back but he couldn't get through he kept trying but he couldn't we thought something happened" she explained to me as i frowned at what she told before giving her a reassuring smile

"I'm fine its probably because of training that i was too focused that Sadao couldn't reach me. Why don't go back and tell everyone I'm fine And I will summon Sadao?"

"OK but don't do this to us again."

"OK i promise" I told her and she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I sighed as i made the hand signs "Summoning jutsu!"

There was a puff of smoke and Sadao appeared.

"Training that's your excuse" He said with a questioning tone.

"I think you know what I'm talking about"

"Don't you mean who? But he never affected our connection before"

"that was before he started talking to me while I'm awake" I muttered making Sada's eyes widen.

"What?! since when?!"

"Since the exams. I will deal with him later but first..." I looked at him with a serious expression "Did you find something?"

He sighed "No Hideo doesn't know anything we searched the bingo book, but no details" and it was my turn to sigh.

"So while he apparently can find out about me I can only know his name. That will give him an advantage the next time we meet"

"We do know his most important advantage though" He pointed out and I nodded

"He can turn to sand. It has to be some sort of Kekkai genkai but then again i never heard of a sand transforming clan"

"There is another option" He pointed out and I raised my eyebrow at him "Hideo suggested it and He told me to tell it to you"

"Well?"

"What if he was one of Orochimaru's experiments?" He suggested causing my eyes to widen, but thinking about it, I found it was possible but then how would he join the akatsuki.

"If he is then there is no way for us to confirm it for now" I sighed "I will have to think about it later now.."

I sat down with my legs crossed "Could you watch over me while i deal with him?" He nodded and I closed my eyes.

I slowed my breathing trying to concentrate on one thing getting to the part of my mind where he was staying.

I opened my eyes to find myself in the familiar Half dark half light gold room.

"Yami!" I called standing up "We need to talk!"

"Well you needn't come here to talk" the gruff voice replied

"I prefer to do it this way. Now care to explain why you blocked my connection to Sadao?" I asked him keeping my voice neutral.

"Cause I felt like it. My reasons remain my reasons and you don't have the right to question it"

"I have the right when it's my mind" I replied somewhat irritated by his answer 'You don't control my mind or block my connection to Sadao got it? He has been my partner ever since i signed the summoning contract and that was when i was four. not once has our connection been stopped and it's not about to be got it?"

He chuckled after my Little outburst causing my anger to rise even more.

"What's funny?" I asked him

"Your foolishness in trusting others" He replied causing me to frown "You can only trust yourself cause when it comes to it no one will have your back"

"Back to this again what happened to you to mistrust others so much...to hate others" I finished remembering our conversation from one time.

"I faced life and soon you'll realize what I'm talking about"

"No my friends aren't like that"

"You just started having Friends again, you're never been in a situation that would prove what you're saying, While i had been"

"Why don't you tell me about it then?" I offered but I only received silence. "Yami!"

Still the only reply was silence, I sighed. "Maybe not now, but I will get you to tell me someday"

I closed my eyes and felt the light surround me before my opening eyes to find my self in the clearing I was sitting.

The sun has set and the moon was almost high up. the light was coming from the city and the moon.

Sadao was standing beside me in a height almost as mine, I gave him a smile playing in his feathers with my hands.

"I take it, it went well?" He asked as i passed my hand through his feathers.

"Somewhat" I replied moving my gaze to the sky thinking about my conversation with Yami.

It has been about a month since we arrived in this town, Naruto manged to reach the second stage of training on the new jutsu (which i found out to be Rasengan), while Jiraya has been spending everyday doing his research.

I would have helped Naruto with is training but Jiraya wanted me to let him do it alone, to avoid the temptation i usually spent my time at training, asking about Tsunada around or just enjoying the quiet at some clearing. Of course the quiet always led me to think about a lot of what happened in the last few month. My brother, Yami, the short time I have left and even that incident from years back.

It took Naruto a couple of weeks to master the second step of training just before we went to Tanzaku town, which according to Jiraya she was because she lost big time...again.

We were moving from one gambling house to another asking around, Naruto was holding his frog wallet happily after he've won some money from a lottery ticket...on his first try.

We were now standing on one of the roofs of the houses, we were looking at the town's castle, or rather what's left from it.

"It's destroyed" I stated a bit surprised "How can it be?"

"Run!" Some people were shouting as they ran on the street in front of us.

"Hey you there!" Jiraya called out to one of them "What's going on? Tell me! what you running from?"

"If you're smart you would run too" The man replied "There's a monster up there"

"A monster?" Naruto questioned beside me.

"Now just calm down, what kind of monster? what do you mean?" Jiraya asked the man.

"A snake! A huge snake! It crushed the castle without even trying..." That was enough for me to jump off the roof and run in the csatle's direction.

'There's one person that could summon a giant snake..Orochimaru'

When I reached the castle it was in ruins and no one was around.

'I'm too late' I thought clenching my fists.

"Sara!" Naruto called behind me before his eyes darted to the ruins "Did the snake do this too?"

Jiraya stood beside me looking at the ruins too.

"Looks like we're too late" He said before turning around to leave "Lets go! We're not gonna find Tsunada here"

"Oh man I almost forget about her" Naruto said as he started to follow him.

'This could either be a coincidence or he's looking for her too. Most likely the latter' I thought taking one last look before following Naruto and Jiraya.

We have been walking for a few hours now looking for Tsunada, but with no luck. Which resulted in a complaining Naruto and me trying to stop myself from snapping at him.

Finally, Jiraya decided that we could stop for a bite at a tavern.

"You do realize we're underage right?" I asked Jiraya looking at the tavern.

"Yeah you're trying to be a bad influence on us!"Naruto shouted at him.

"Nobody's making you do anything alright! Just have a snack and stay out of the grownups way" Jiraya told us as he walked inside.

Naruto followed jiraya complaining again, I sighed as I followed them inside. When I heard Jiraya stop talking I looked up to find him looking at someone, who I recognized from the photo Jiraya had, it was the person we're looking for.

'Tsunada'


	30. Chapter 28

**Sara pov**

So after both of the sanins recognized each other we sat at the same booth with Tsuanada and some other women who I found out her name to be Shizune.

Tsuanada had brown eyes and blonde hair tied into two loose ponytails and also a violet rhombus mark on her forehead.

While Shizune was a fair-skinned woman of average height and slender build with black eyes and hair. Her hair was straight and shoulder-length with bangs that covered her ears and framed her face.

Naruto and I were eating while the others were drinking sake. silence covered our table for the most.

'I can't believe we actually found her' I thought 'I mean she is really here and we manage to convince her to come back to the village, than she could heal Sauske, Kakashi...and maybe myself as well.

The question is how to convince her, what does Jiraya have on his mind?'

"It's like a Reunion" Tsunada said quietly breaking the silence "All the old faces coming back at the same time"

'So that means...' I thought as my eyes widened a bit.

"You mean Orochimaru" Jiraya told her after pouring her more sake "So what happened?"

"ah nothing much we said hello that's about it" She answered while taking out a deck of cards.

'Now why don't I believe that' I thought.

She started shuffling the deck of cards.

"Well then!" She started placing the deck on the table between her and Jiraya "why have you been looking for me?"

"I will cut right to the chase" He told her taking the deck and cutting it and placing it on the table again."Tsunada, in it's wisdom the village has come to the decision to name you as the fifth hokage"

everyone was completely shocked about what he said, especially Naruto who was shocking on his food now.

Tsunada started dealing cards to both of them.

'Fifth hokage?!' I thought looking at the blond woman 'I didn't expect that but if she does accept than she will come back to the village with us, that's what we need exactly right now. Other than helping Sauske and Kakashi, the village needs a hokage right now and who's better than one of the legendery Sanins'

"You heard about the Third Hokage?" Jiraya asked her after they were both holding five cards.

"It was Orochimaru who did it right?" she said "I heard about it, in fact he told me himself"

"Hold on a second!" Naruto shouted "You're saying he's the one who killed the old man! Who is this Orochimaru guy?"

"He's one of the sanins like Tsunada here and yours truly" Jiraya replied

"But then why?" Naruto asked "The sanin are all from the leaf village, right? why did he do it?"

"Who are those brats you got with you?" Tsunada asked referring to Naruto and I.

"This Naruto Uzumaki and Sara Hiroshi" Jiraya introduced us, but what caught my attention was her eyes widening at Naruto's name.

"OK wait a second!" Naruto shouted louder standing up and slamming his fist on the table "I haven't finished yet".

"So this guy" Naruto continued turning to Jiraya "You know his the one who murdered the hokage. what have you done about it?

He's a sanin, He's one of you guys. why is he still walking around? Why haven't you caught him? and oh yeah what about her being the fifth hokage"

That was the last straw my ears had had enough of his shouting, i grabbed his ear and pulled him back down to his seat.

"Shut up and behave, It's bad enough you have her thinking we're brats, no need to ruin our hearings as well" I warned him

Jiraya and Tsunada started playing and from the smirk on Jiraya's face it looked like he had a good hand.

"I'll say it once again" Jiraya started "The leaf village has made its decision, they have chosen you to be the fifth hokage.

So what's your answer?"

I looked at her waiting to see, hoping she would accept.

"Do you accept it Tsunada?" Jiraya asked her

"Well I'm waiting what do you say?" Jiraya asked her after a moment of silence

"Impossible I decline" she replied taking us by surprise, most of us anyway Jiraya had a smile o his face.

"You know it's kinda of funny, that rings a bell" Jiraya told her "I remember you saying those very words the first and only time I ever asked you out"

Naruto was rubbing his head strongly before he shouted again.

"Would somebody tell me what's going on? what the heck are we doing here? You said wew were going to bring her back to the village to cure Sauske and Kakashi sensei, Than you pull this stuff about making her hokage, than she goes and refuses it"

"Could you quiet down and think for a moment Naruto?" I told him sternly

"Don't worry Naruto she know can't refuse" Jiraya told Naruto "there can be no one else. There was no one who contributed more to the leaf's victory in the great war. She combines unrivaled skills as a warrior with the ability to heal others. What's more she's the granddaughter of the very first hokage. so in heritage and ability, she is the clear and only choice to be the fifth hokage."

"Beside if she accepts she will come back to the village and heal Sauske and Kakashi sensei" I finished.

"Right you see it's all been carefully thought out by the highest council of the village" Jiraya told him making Naruto grumble.

"You're slipping Jiraya this apprentice is nothing like you're last one, He's a fool with a big mouth. funny looking too" Tsunada mocked Naruto.

Before Naruto could burst out Jiraya intervened. but i didn't hear what he said.

'That kid really is a brat' Yami started saying making me tune everyone else out 'He couldn't figure that out on his own'

'He does need to start using his head more, but hopefully jiraya could help him with that after all he did teach the fourth hokage' I thought back 'and after all i have seen from Naruto i think with right guidance he can surpass the fourth himself.'

'That I doubt and you didn't even witness the fourth's skill to say that brat could surpass him'

'No but Yoshio told me enough, he did learn under him for a short time'

"Oh sure but all that didn't save him from dying young" Tsunada said causing to refocus on what they were saying "Throwing his life away for the sake of the village. Money's one thing, a life's another. to risk your life against all the odds that's a sucker's bet"

That made me narrow my eyes at her while Naruto broke his chopsticks.

"My grandfather and his successor they were all so willing to die to defend the village" She continued "oh They are both dead alright and the village is no safe than it was"

'What could have made her think that way?'

After what Tsunada said and another outburst from Naruto we ended up standing in front of the tavern in the empty street. Naruto was facing Tsunada after he challenged her.

'Idiot' Was the only word i could describe naruto with right now.

"One of the Legendary Sannin taking on a snot-nosed genin" Tsuanada said "… I oughta be ashamed of myself"

"Who're you calling snotty?" Naruto asked her

All she did was raise one finger.

"Oh stop trying to show up" Jiraya told her

"You see this?" she said "one finger. It's all I'm gonna need to take you down"

I sighed 'Naruto gotta learn to pick his fights'

"well what you waiting for kid?" She asked him

"don't ever underestimate me!" Naruto shouted running at her

Naruto pulled a kunai and threw shuriken at her which she dodged easily by stepping to the side. When he was about to hit her with the kunai she used one finger to take it from him and then removed his headband with it. she then flicked him on the forehead trowing him backward.

'So that's a small fraction of her strength, no wonder the village wants her as hokage.'

"Hey kid!" Tsunada called "One question before you pass out. tell me! what makes you so touchy about hokage?"

That caused me to smile as i looked at naruto. 'He's always ranting about it no one takes their dream as strongly as Naruto'

"It's because unlike you that's my goal" Naruto replied "just watch someday I will be hokage, remember this to me hokage, that is my dream"

It's the moment that Tsunada lowered her head that Naruto bought his hands together forming the rasengan and started running at her.

'You show her Naruto!'

She then raised her finger and hit the ground with it causing a small crater to form this made naruto fall and his jutsu to break.

My eyes widened as I watched her power.

'to be able to do that with one finger'

Shizune walked to naruto and helped him out.

"Jiraya are you the one that taught that little kid the rasengan?" Tsunada asked.

"Well of course i did, I'm his teacher aren't I?, what of it?" he replied

"You , the fourth Hokage and that last student of his are the only ones who can use that jutsu" she said

'That's what you think' I thought

"What's the point of teaching it to someone who can never master it?" She asked "You old fool! Giving false hopes like that, filling his head with stupid ideas, making him think he can actually be hokage someday"

"That's really enough!" I shouted before Naruto could "I have tried to stay quiet and give you respect but i don't take putting my friends down lightly. Who gave you the right to keep putting him down? Yes He is a genin but that's how everyone starts.

I know Naruto and I know he is going to be hokage someday, so stop putting him down just cause you've got issues with being hokage"

But the shouting cause Naruto just had to join.

"Give me three days and I will have that jutsu down" Naruto shouted at her making Tsunada smirk.

"Watch what you say kid i might just hold you to it" she told him.

"huh I said it and I mean it, i never go back on my word that's my nindo, my ninja way" He replies making me smile.

"Well care to make a bet" she told Naruto "I will give you one week, If you can master that jutsu by then i will admit i'm wrong and you're worthy of becoming hokage. I will even throw in my necklace"

"Lady Tsunada!" Shizune shouted "No you don't really mean that"

'It's just a necklace right?'

"Nah, you can keep it I'm not really into jewelry" Naruto told her

"You idiot!" Jiraya scolded "That necklace belonged to the first hokage himself, there are only two like it in the world. why that little thing is worth three gold mines and the mountains on top of them"

"So it's pretty important heritage piece" I said when I looked at Naruto he was drooling and i could almost see his pupils becoming ryo signs that made me sweat drop.

"Lady you got yourself a bet" He told her

"Alright however you don't master in it in a week you lose and adnit i was right " she told him than raising her hand showing a fat frog wallet "and i get the money in froggy"

Naruto started searching himself for his stollen wallet.

"Since you believe in him so much why dont you put your money on him" She told me

"Fine i will give you all the money i have on me if he losses" I told her "I think that would make about 10,000 ryo. But if he masters the jutsu and wins the bet You have to become the fifth hokage"

She was startled at my request but than smirked.

"Fine but you must have a lot of faith in that brat to put that much on him"

Shizune than satrted talking to Tsunada before they both left. but Tsunada than stopped in her tracks and Turned her to look at me.

"Tell me if I'm wrong but You're Sara Hiroshi, The light princess right?" She asked

I just put my heands behind my head "That's me alright"

She didnt reply just turned her head ahead and started to leave.

I was resting on the bed in my hotel room beside Naruto's and Jiraya's room.

'One hell of a night, we find Tsunada it turns to bet involving the fact that she comes to the village on the line. Not because my part in the bet but I know that if Naruto master the jutsu that would convince her. But i just asked more of a guarantee.'

I turned my head to look at the stars through the window.

'No one knows I can do the rasengan, after all it was the last thing i learned before...' I thought back to the morning of the day of the incident.

_-Flashback-_

_"So far this jutsu have been taking you the longest to learn" An eleven year-old boy said his black hair tied in a short loose ponytail ."Maybe we should postpone it for when your older and more experienced"_

_"No! no! no!" A five year old girl shook her head rapidly she was panting and she looked tired "I am almost there i mean i got the steps down but i just have to make it hold enough to actually use it "_

_"Are you sure? I mean it's been a couple of months" He teased "Maybe it's just too hard for you"_

_"No! Just watch Yoshio, I will try again" She told him she refocused her attention back on her hand._

_'Focus Sara' she thought to herself as she closed her eyes and blocked out everything else._

_She opened her eyes suddenly and started gathering her chakra in her right hand, her chakra started to form a spherical blue ball._

_She then ran at the tree she's been trying to hit, bringing her hand forward. Finally, the chakra ball in her hand collided with the tree and it was through and through, th tree was split into two halfs._

_She stopped in her place panting looking at where the tree used to stand, it was then her face broke into a grin._

_"I did it! I did it! " She cheered jumbing up and down "You saw that Yoshio! I DID IT ! It collided!"_

_"Good job!" Yoshio praised as he patted her head "You keep on breaking my records, It took me three month to learn that jutsu"_

_"So why did you keep teasing me than?" She asked him puffing her cheeks, causing him to chuckle._

_"Thought it would give you a little push" He than carried her on his back "Now Lets go home you look exhausted"_

_It was her cue to yawn as they started making their way from the trainning grounds to their house._

_-end of flashback-_

I was staring at the celing the memory of that day in my head, my face carried a sad smile and a small tear ran down my cheek.

'A lot have changed since that day and who knows if i will even gat a chance to be aroun dto see Kohana grow up or if i wwould actually manage to bring my brother back'


	31. Chapter 29

**Sara Pov**

I was sitting on the ground beside a river watching Naurto train quietly, I hap spent a good while in the morning looking for him and from the looks of it he had been training since last night. His hands was shaking and he was panting and looked beaten up.

'I don't know if it was the bet or something else..' I thought looking at him '...But he's even more determined to master the jutsu'

He dropped to the ground shaking.

I wanted to help him but at that point in his training there wasn't much I could do, after all i only did that jutsu once right and i never used it since that day of training it always brought up too much bad memories.

I left him to it and started walking to a different field leaving Naruto, I knew if any one could do it it was Naruto. Now I myself had better get some training done.

I stared at the tree in front of me after I was away from Naruto and can no longer see him.

**(AN: italics are things that was said to her that she's remembering)**

_"Rotation is the base of the jutsu"_

I opened the palm of my hand in front of me at my eye level.

_"Imagine the ball from before, imagine it like your grasping it in your hand"_

I started focusing on the palm of my hand and slowly felt the air around it start to rotate.

_"Concentrate your chakra and focus"_

A ball of blue chakra started forming in my palm slowly growing till it was the size of a small sphere.

_"Keep focus or you will just be throwing away your chakra, you got to maintain everything you have done so far"_

I ran at the tree but just before my rasengan could hit it disappeared.

My body was shaking but not because of the jutsu . I had tears running down my eyes and i was fighting back a sob.

_"I did it! I did it! " A five year old me cheered jumping up and down "You saw that Yoshio! I DID IT ! It collided!"_

_"Good job!" Yoshio praised as he patted her head "You keep on breaking my records, It took me three month to learn that jutsu"_

_"So why did you keep teasing me than?" I asked him puffing her cheeks, causing him to chuckle._

_"Thought it would give you a little push" He than carried me on his back "Now Lets go home you look exhausted"_

'I swear Yoshio i will do what ever i can to bring you back even if i die trying' I thought clenching my fists and drying my tears 'I promise I won't give up'

It's been a few days I had barely went back to my room, i was spending all my days training on mastering my rasengan and right now as the concentrated chakra ball in my hand passed through the tree trunk splitting it into two halves easily.

'I did it?' I thought

A wide grin spread across my face.

"I did it! I did it!" I shouted jumping up and down, I was finally able to remember how to do it right.

My happiness was short lived as i felt a sharp pain in my head. I dropped to the ground clutching my head and biting my lips so hard that i felt blood tickling out of it.

I slowly reached my hand into the pouch and brought out my medicine bottle. To my horror when i opened it it was empty.

The pain was rapidly increasing and i started feeling my conscience slipping away.

'Sadao..help' Was the last thought i had using the mind connection before the darkness enveloped me.

**Third pov**

'Sadao..help' a voice said through the sparrow's head as he was perched on a tree branch, his eyes widened at the distress and the pain obvious in the speaker's voice.

'Sara! Sara!' Sadao tried to reach her but with no avail.

He flapped his wing and soared to the sky flying as fast as he could till he reached another field where two doves were flying around chasing each other and a third one on the ground just watching them.

"Ichiro! Kei! Miyuki!" Sadao called urgently landing on the field beside Ichiro.

"Sadao?" Ichiro questioned surprised at the presence of the sparrow, he knew something urgent must have happened for him to be here.

The two flying doves landed beside the other two birds confused as well.

"What's wrong Sadao?" Kei asked Sadao trying to be calm.

"It's not Sara is it?" Asked Miyuki worriedly.

"Yes it is, I need you to go to her" He said before turning to the male dove "afterward Ichiro you have to find an old man with spiky white hair and a kanji for oil on his horned forehead protector he's called lord Jiraya lead him to where Sara is"

"Hai" They all answered disappearing in a puff of smoke.

'As much as I hate it' Sadao thought to himself soaring once again to the sky 'I have to ask him for a favor.

Back at the field where an unconscious Sara lied on the ground, three puffs of smoke broke the silence surrounding the field.

"Sara!" Three voices shouted at the same time staring at the beaten down Sara.

The white dove and the one with the pink circlet landed beside her while the one with the blue circlet flew into the sky to do what he was told.

"Stay by her" He told the other tow "I will go look for that guy Sadao told me about" with that he soared high into the sky flying as fast as his wings could carry him.

Ichiro had been flying around for a while but he still couldn't find the Jiraya person Sadao told him about, he found many people with whit hair but none that carried the kanji for oil.

At least until now he spotted him spiky white hair and the kanji for oil on his horned forehead protector. He didn't waste anytime as he started flying downwards towards Jiraya.

"Hey!" He called once he was close enough to his eye level following him as he was walking thorough the village "Lord Jiraya!"

Hearing his name Jiraya stopped in his tracks he started looking around for who called him till he spotted the white dove with the blue circlet flying towards him.

Back at the field Kei and Miyuki stood by Sara's side worried, they had found the empty medicine bottle beside her, They didn't know what happened but figured that the what ever was in the bottle might have to do with what ever happened to their summoner.

"Kei, do you think She's going to be alright?" Miyuki asked feeling worried especially because of the pained expression Sara had.

"Of course" Kei answered strongly "I mean she probably just over used her chakra while training, she's going to be fine" She honestly didn't know but she was trying to stay as positive as possible.

"I sure hope you're right" Miyuki said as they fell into silence again.

A short while afterwards the silence was cut by the sounds of foot steps of a person as he ran towards him, they didn't recognize the man but when they saw that Ichiro was with him They relaxed.

He stopped beside them and picked Sara Up.

"Bring that bottle" Jiraya told them before he started running with Sara in his hands.

Sara laid in bed in her room in the inn, Miyuki was beside her, Kei and Ichiro had went back to tell Sadao what happened while Jiraya left as soon as he put her in her bed only to come back with the blond sannin.

Tsunade had her hand on Sara's forehead glowing with chakra, the room was silent while she was helping Sara.

When Tsunade finally finished she looked up at Jiraya with an angry expression.

"Are you idiot enough to bring her with you in her condition?!" Tsunada snarled at him , Jiraya backed away a bit scared.

"Condition?!" He asked her confused and frightened, even Miyuki was scared of the female sannin but also she was wondering what she meant as far as she knew Sara had no condition or illness.

Tsunade stared at Jiraya for a second before sighing and massaging her temples.

"You don't know.." She said "This girl is surely an idiot" She than turned to the dove that leaped at the look on the sannin's face.

"You're her summon right?" She asked her "You want to explain why she's even on a mission despite her condition"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about" Miyuki answered feeling worried about her summoner.

"Care to explain Tsunade?" Jiraya asked the blond woman regaining his composure and feeling a bit worried it was obvious that it was something big if Tsunade was acting like that.

"To put it simple this girl is..." she was then interrupted by a poof of smoke which cleared to show Sadao standing beside Miyuki on the bedside table.

"Looks like I made it in time" He said before turning to Myuki " You can go back I will tell you everything when Sara wakes up"

Miyuki was hesitant but nevertheless she went back leaving Sadao with Tsunade and Jiraya.

"You must be Lady Tsunade from the sannin My name is Sadao" Sadao introduced himself "I take it you know of her condition?"

"I do and she exerted too much chakra and that caused her to have an episode which by the looks of it..." Se said looking at the medicine bottle in her other hand "...isn't the first time"

"Um, could someone explain to me what's going on?" Jiray asked confused.

"Simply put the girl is..." Tsunade said closing her eyes "..dying"

This shocked Jiraya as he looked at the unconscious girl,"How is..?"

"Brain tumor and a nasty one" Tsunade interrupted him "she might have only a few month left to go"

"That's one of the reasons she's been looking for you" Sadao said "She has been looking for you even before all third died, according to the doctors no one can do the surgery back at the village but you're one of the most skilled medical konoha ninja, she was hoping you could help"

"Well sadly for her I can't do anything" Tsunade started heading for the door "She just has to rest and then head back to the village and enjoy her last few month away from the ninja life"

"She's not one to do that, she's most likely to do the opposite" Sadao told her "I don't believe that you can't do anything"

"Than she's an idiot" Tsunade said as she left the room.

Sadao was mad about what the sannin was saying but he stayed calm knowing that anger wouldn't help convince the blond nin.

"Look after her, she's got a lot of explaining to do when she wakes up" Jiraya told Sadao as he followed Tsunade.

"I don't need you to tell me" Sadao replied as he looked back at his summoner.

A few days passed quietly Naruto staying in the field training till he collapsed and was brought to his room by shizune, Sara who remained unconscious till tonight.

Her eyes opened slowly and she blinked a few times till her vision cleared, she looked around after sitting up her memory fuzzy till she realized she was in her room at the inn, than her memories came rushing as she remembered having another episode.

"I was starting to get even more worried" A voice said from the window sill, she turned to it to find the Brown sparrow standing on it, that surprised her a bit.

"Sadao, don't tell me you flew all the way here?" She asked him.

"That's the first thing you ask after being unconscious for a few days?" He said sighing "and no i had to ask the old hag for a favour"

That caused Sara to chuckle a bit "Sorry but you didn't have to come all the way"

This caused Sadao to frown and his eyes became concerned "I had to when you asked for help your voice showed extreme pain, I couldn't stay back after hearing it"

Sara smiled "Thanks Sadao, i'm sorry I concerned you"

He landed on her lap as she patted him, he told her all she missed including the conversation with Tsunade and Naruto collapsing.

"That Naruto he had to keep pushing himself" she said to herself, this caused Sadao to chuckle.

"You're one to talk" He told her "One more thing I think you need to tell the rest of the flock about your condition, "

This made Sara frown but she didn't reply she understood why he said it, after all Miyuki did almost know it would be better coming from her than from someone else.

"Ok right after we go back to the village." she told him "Now knowing you, you probably didn't sleep the last few days you need to get some rest, I'm fine now."

Sadao didn't object saying goodnight he headed to the tree outside her room.

Sara laid back down thinking about the conversation Sadao had with Tsunade, she had expected the conversation to go along those lines after her run with the sannin, she hoped that when they manage to bring her back to the village she would convince her to help.

**Sara's Pov**

"Great pervy sage!" someone shouted causing me to rune in my bed as i tried to continue to sleep "And you're always going on about what a great ninja you're are! What did you get distracted by her pretty face?!"

"Shut up!" Someone shouted back

seeing as I knew the loud annoying voices, I got out of bed and took a kunai from my weapon pouch on the ground.

I opened the window and threw the kunai near Naruto's face by a few cm's. He shrieked and jumped towards Jiraya.

"Thta's for waking me up Naruto!" I yelled at him but then I saw the serious look on Jiraya's and Shizune's faces "What's going on?"

"Trouble."Answered Jiraya.

"Give me a sec" I told them as I went back and changed from my pajamas I changed into last night.

I took My katana and My weaon's pouch and jumped out of the window and went towards where the three of them were sitting.

Jiraya was drinking some water.

"Are you feeling better now, master Jiraya?" Shizune asked him

"I suppose so compared to how I felt before" He told her as she refilled his glass "I'm back to maybe thirty percent"

I felt some chakra around but it disssapered before I could locate it.

"So what happened?" I asked them

"Pervy sage got drugged by the old lady" Naruto answered "He can't use chakra and can barely move"

"What?! Why would she...?" I turned to Shizune and so did Jiraya. "What exactly happened to the two of you?"

"It's time you told us about you're mistress and Orochimaru" Jiraya told her. "What kind of deal are they making?"

Shizune was shaking before she dropped her head.

"I never Imagined she would go thorough with it" She told us "That's why I didn't say anything about it before, But now..." she stood up "There's no time to lose, you must come with me quickly, I will explain on the way"

"Let's go then" Jiraya said

"Don't forget me" Naruto added "I'm coming too"

"We're not going to stay back" I said as Sadao landed on my shoulder " we are coming"


	32. Chapter 30

**SaraPov**

"What the heck happened here?" Naruto wondered as we looked at the destroyed road and the walls surrounding it, it was all in ruins with a giant crater in the middle of the road.

"Well, I'd say something put Tsunade in a bad mood" Jiraya answered "She's got a foul temper"

"So the deal is probably off" I said "Looks like she's still a leaf ninja at heart after all" Sadao nodded in agreement as he stood on my shoulder.

"Well okay! But where is the grumpy old bat now?" Naruto asked making me nod in agreement, I could sense the strong chakra around but it was remains from the fight that took place here that was making it hard for me to determine which direction they went.

Naruto walked around till he stumbled upon her jacket, we all walked towards it led by Shizune's little pig Tonton.

I sweat drop at the scene in front of me right now the small pig was sniffing Tsunade's green jacket.

"Which way? Well Tonton?" Shizune asked him, making me sweat drop again 'Since when did a pig take a dog's job?'

Tonton lifted his head and started walking in a certain direction and for some reason they followed him and I followed them.

'Let's hope the pig knows what he's doing'

"So you fear the sight blood, eh?" Shouted Kabuto as he ran at Tsunade, with his Kunai scratching the ground "Let's put it to the test, shall we?"

But at the last second Shizune threw a smoke bomb in front of Tsunade making Kabuto jump back. The smoke cleared to reveal Shizune, Jiraya, Naruto and I standing in front of Tsunade in a line.

Jiraya had Tonton on his shoulder while Sadao was flying in the sky to keep an eye on things in case we need a surprise attack in the middle of battle.

"It's been a long time, old friend" Said Orochimaru to Jiraya, My eyes switched from Kabuto to Orochimaru but then they landed on the cloaked person beside him and I froze.

"Long time indeed" Jiraya replied "and I can't say it's improved your looks"

Orochimaru turned his eyes towards me and smirked.

"And the little princess is here too" He said making me narrow my eyes and clench my fists "This sure to turn to something fun"

"Hey Kabuto" Naruto pointed at Kabuto causing him to smile.

"You met this guy before Naruto?" Jiraya asked Naruto

"Well of course I have" Naruto replied "we took the chunin exams together, right Sara? What are you doing here Kabuto?"

At that moment Tsunade pushed Jiraya out of the way and charged at Kabuto I was about to follow but before I know it I was punched in the stomach and thrown back.

I skid on the ground till I stopped clutching my stomach. I looked towards the place where I stood to see him standing right in front of it but then he rushed towards me, I was barely dodging his punches and kicks.

"Sara!" Shouted Jiraya and Naruto but I knew they couldn't help, Jiraya because of the drug that Tsunade gave him and Naruto because he was still in shock from seeing Kabuto.

'Sara...' Sadao thought to me

'Don't' I thought back 'I will take care of him you just make sure the others are alright'

He didn't reply but I couldn't focus on that now, I was barely evading and I didn't try to fight back, I couldn't bring myself to do it. It was a surprise when he jumped and stood again beside Orochimaru, I was confused till my eyes landed on the fallen Tsunade.

'He was just distracting me'

I headed towards them Naruto was conversing with Kabuto while Shizune was beside Tsunade. I stood beside Naruto my eyes narrowed at Kabuto.

"I don't get it? What's going on?" Naruto wondered "I'm confused, am I missing out on something? How come Kabuto and Grandma Tsunade are mixing it up?"

"I see you're slow as ever Naruto" Kabuto told him "No wonder you're no match for Sasuke"

"If you want your answer" Jiraya said standing up "Just look at his headband. He serves Orochimaru"

"He was just a spy Naruto" I told him "He tricked everyone just to gather information"

"That's right Just like she said" He confirmed "I'm a spy from the village hidden in the sound"

"What?! A spy that's impossible, you don't really mean it?" Naruto said "But you helped us get through the chunin exams, you saved our lives."

"Only to gather information about all of you" Kabuto replied "That was my mission"

"That's how spies are Naruto" I said " I didn't trust him when I first met him but working for Orochimaru that's even worse"

"Indeed and I learned one very important thing about you Naruto" Kabuto said "You lack any ninja ability. You're not a bit like Sasuke"

Naruto was shaking beside me as much as I wanted to comfort him, I knew now wasn't the time.

"Go on glare at me all you want" Kabuto told Naruto as He continued to glare "you're still a pint size genin who are in over your heads. I admit that demon inside of you had me worried for a time, but surrounded by three of the legendary sannin, I see how insignificant you are. Next to them you're a child sitting at the grownup's table. Stay out of it! Or die"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto shouted charging at Kabuto, I was about to follow to stop him but once again before I could a punch was coming my way but this time I jumped back avoiding it.

But it was soon to how it was before me barely avoiding his punches. 'Damn it! He's too fast for me; I don't even have the will to fight back. What's worst he's just distracting me so I won't be able to help the others.

The punching stopped and soon enough He was again beside Orochimaru and so was Kabuto, Naruto was on the ground being held by Shizune. I made my way back to them.

'This is getting ridicules I can't protect myself or help everyone else'

"Plasma bells" Shizune said as we saw Kabuto swallow some bells.

"Well of course he's trying to replace the blood that he already lost" Jiraya stated

"So he's a medical ninja like me" Shizune stated

I saw Orochimaru say a few words and before I know it the figure beside him was removing his cloak revealing his face.

"Is that..? But it can't be!" Jiraya said and I could sense his vision shift towards me "Yoshio Hiroshi!" Said Jiraya surprised.

"Yoshio Hiroshi?!" Naruto inquired confused "So he's to you Sara?" He didn't remember Yoshio was actually my brother, for which at that moment I was thankful.

There stood beside Orochimaru my brother was the same blank look he had the last time I saw him during the exams with the sound headband on his forehead, my fists and jaw clenched as I stared at Yoshio.

"So you didn't tell your friends about your brother joining me?" Orochimaru asked with a chuckle "And here I thought the leaf was all about trust"

"Her brother?!" Naruto asked confused before a look of recognition was on his face "That's right I remember him, but why is He working for Orochimaru?"

I didn't answer again, I wasn't even sure what to say and thankfully for the moment they didn't push the mater any further.

Kabuto muttered a few words to Orochimaru and the next I knew Orochimaru was biting his bandages to take them off to reveal his purple hands.

"You're going to have to explain something after this" Jiraya whispered to me and I gave him a small nod.

"So that's Orochimaru?" Naruto asked

"Well now we can finally get down to business" Jiraya said before turning to Shizune "Shizune! I will let you take care of four eyes over there" He then turned to me "Sara you need to take care of Yoshio" He then turned to Orochimaru "Just leave Orochimaru to me! There's just one thing, I need Tsunade to do something about my body before we get started here."

"It may be a while before the full effect of that drug completely leaves your system" Shizune informed him "I'm very sorry but it can't be helped master Jiraya"

"What?! You've got to be kidding!" Jiraya said "Uh well what can you do right? I will just have to face him as I am. Tsunade, use your recovery ninjutsu and rest"

"What about me? What should I do?" Naruto asked Jiraya.

"Don't do anything" Jiraya ordered him "You just stand guard over Tsunade with the pig okay?"

I didn't wait to hear the rest of what they were saying I jumped to the side as did Yoshio as he ran at me throwing a punch that I evaded by jumping even higher up. He appeared in front of me as he punched again but I blocked it but the mere force of it threw me through the air I was flying towards the ground till my back hit a rock.

I gritted my teeth because of the pain and slowly lifted my head to see that I was pushed away from the others and I could no longer see them.

'Sara...' Sadao thought to me

'I told you I will take care of Yoshio' I told him 'just watch over Naruto and Tsunade'

'Why aren't you fighting back? You brat!' Yami bellowed at me 'Do you have a death wish?'

'Shut it Yami!' I yelled back at him

I used my hand to push myself out of the way of his kick as he came at me again. For the most all I did was dodge and block, I couldn't fight or rather I wasn't willing to. I couldn't bring myself to fight my own brother but it looked like he was more than willing to.

He hit me with a kick to my side that sent me rolling on the ground till I hit another stone, No one was around us anymore or rather they were a bit far away for me to know how they were doing.

"Why?..." I asked pushing myself up using my hand slowly "Why did you join him? Why did you betray the leaf?" My voice was getting louder and louder as I stood up "Why did you betray everyone that cared about you?" I shouted at him, tears staining my cheek, blood tickling from my mouth down my chin. My body was covered with bruises and injures, it hurt all over.

He didn't answer me, he didn't say anything, just looked at me with the same blank look and the next I know it I was thrown backwards with another punch. This time I didn't stand up, I was tired and was aching all over I knew it wasn't just because of Yoshio but also because of the episode I had a few days ago. The tears in my eyes added to it, I couldn't believe it he was so willing to fight without showing any emotion or regret or hesitation. Physically I was in pain and emotionally I couldn't just hold it in anymore.

I slowly started standing again but when I was on my knees and before I could react Yoshio was coming at me with a punch, things might have felt like it was in slow motion but he was moving too fast for me to avoid. I looked at him coming at me knowing at the momentum he was gaining from running that when I'm hit I would probably lose conscious, but it never hit.

My eyes widened as I stared at Sadao who met Yoshio's punch half way, I saw the blood that splattered from his beak as he was thrown towards me. I caught him in my arms as we both skid back a few meters.

"Why?" I asked him my eyes tearing even more "Why did you get between us? I told I will take care of him?"

"Well you weren't really taking care of him; you were more of playing the role of a punching bag for him" He told me "I know it's hard for you but you have to fight back, laying down won't do a thing here" he cough some blood that ended up on my face

"You need to go back to have Rei heal you" I told him since I couldn't really unsummon him since I wasn't the one to summon him.

"I will" He told me "If you promise to fight back, you have to remember in battle emotions are a ninja's weakness. You have to keep a clear head like you always do. "

I bit my lower lip as I nodded my head "I promise"

As soon as I said those words He closed his eyes and disappeared in a puff of smoke, before I could comprehend anything I was punched in the gut and thrown backwards again, but this time I stood up again. I looked at Yoshio standing opposite of me was a blank face mirroring his, the wind around us made my hair swishing as I wiped the blood tickling from my mouth.

"You hurt my partner and my friend" I told Yoshio "Even if you're my brother that is something I can't just let you do. If you won't talk to me than I will just have to drag you back to the village"

My hands formed a hand seal and four clones appeared beside me, all four of them ran at him surrounding him, my clones started forming hand seals.

"Fire style: Flame flower jutsu!" My clones shouted as they jumped in that air and shot each three giant bullets of fire that come down like giant meteors and then erupted into a geyser of flame where Yoshio stood. But he had jumped in the air avoiding it.

I appeared behind him in air, a ball of concentrated chakra in my hand. "Remember this was the last jutsu you taught me!" I shouted as my hand made contact with his back "Rasengan!"

He was thrown forward due to the hit. I landed on my feet while He rolled on the ground till he came to a full stop, but I didn't stop there. I appeared above him with my leg raised and my chakra focused at them. He pushed himself aside to avoid being hit and as soon as my leg made contact with ground a crater was formed.

He stood up again his face blank not portraying any kind of pain from being hit by the Rasengan. The next I know it he was running towards me, He engaged in Taijutsu with my clones first defeating them easily. While He was doing so, I was making hand seals. "Fire style: Phoenix Sage Fire jutsu!" I shouted creating a volley of small fireballs that I was directing towards Yoshio who was running at me, usually they were hard to avoid but with his speed he managed to.

He appeared in front of me sending a kick I crouched down stretching my leg I tried to trip him but he jumped up avoiding me. He brought his leg up about to hit me with it but I used my hands to push myself out of the way. His leg contacted with the ground forming a small hole.

'Why isn't he using chakra?' I thought looking at Yoshio as he stood up, up till now all he used was pure Taijutsu no Chakra added, at first I thought it was because I wasn't fighting back but even now he still wasn't using chakra.

'Could he be underestimating me?' I thought to myself 'But how could he? I mean I managed to land hit, I was fighting back and he wasn't able to hit me'

'Idiot!' Yami mocked 'Did traveling with the blond idiot affect what brain you had?'

Before I could reply I barley dodged to the side an incoming punch from Yoshio at my face, I was now moving back with my head changing directions to avoid his punches. One punch came beside my face which I to quickly catch his wrist while he was punching it. I then raised my leg to hit his side but he caught my leg. I used my other leg to push us apart.

'What were you saying?' I asked Yami as I stood further away from him, I was starting to get tired but tried not to show any change. 'It's not the best time for insults right now'

'I think you just need to remove his headband and you will know what I'm talking about' Yami answered

'Remove his headband?' I thought looking at the sound headband on his forehead with narrowed eyes 'I don't really understand, but I will do it'

I ran at him as he ran at me while he threw a kick I grabbed his leg and was about to hit him with my elbow when he stopped it with his hand. He pushed his leg that I had caught hard enough for me to let go. He was about to hit me with his leg again but I jumped in the air avoiding it. Using his head for support I pushed myself to land behind him, I turned around with a kunai I took out of my pouch aiming for his head. He jumped away from me, but I smirked I had done exactly what I wanted to do.

I had cut the sash of his headband and it started to fall making my eyes widen as I stared at his forehead. On his forehead was some sort of design of swirls, but what caught my attention was the two kanjis in the middle. Right in the middle was the Kanjis for control. I realized why he had been acting like this, why he had worked for Orochimaru, why he had attacked the leaf.

'A seal! He's being controlled?!' I thought to myself

'I have seen that seal before' Yami told me ' It blocks the user's chakra away and turns him into a puppet for the user to control'

'Out of all things it had to be a seal?' I thought 'I will have to figure how to break that seal'

"I promise..." I said out loud "...I'm going to free you Yoshio"

I started making hand seals "Light reflection Jutsu!" I said as I disappeared out of his sight and masked my chakra.

'How to do it?' I thought closing my eyes 'I can't use my prison jutsu since my body is aching too much for me to concentrate. I can't stop him with just Taijutsu he's far better than me at it. Seals are the worst match for me; I can't make them nor break them. '

I was snapped out of my thoughts by a kick to the stomach, it was strong enough to throw me back and make me splatter blood from my mouth. My body hadn't fully recovered and now it was even in a worst shape because of all the hits I took.

'How did he find me?' I thought as I coughed more blood and stood up

'You're body's tired' Yami told me 'you dropped the jutsu for a second and that was all he needed'

'So I can't use my chakra probably right now' I thought 'I'm in trouble'

At that moment I felt the wind swirl and sensed an immense chakra coming from the direction where I left the others. My eyes widened as I was hit again, but this time it was several punches to my stomach, the final one threw me back. I tried to urge my body to stand up but it wouldn't obey me.

'I can't give up, I can't freeze and watch while the people I care about hurt' I thought to myself 'Not again'

I slowly and shakingly started standing up again. I bit my thumb and started making hand seals "Summoning Jutsu!" I said slamming my hand on the ground.

A poof of smoke cleared to show Satoshi standing in front of his eyes narrowed at Yoshio. "When Sadao told me what was going on I couldn't believe it" His eyes turned to me "Milady! You need medical help"

I didn't answer but gave him a weak smile as my body gave up. The last thing I felt was the soft feathers I fell on before the darkness swallowed me.

**Third Pov**

"Are all the new ninja generation like those two?" Tsunade asked quietly as she walked beside Jiraya "Stubborn and keep on fighting even when they are in no condition to fight"

"Seems like it" Jiraya answered her with a chuckle as he looked at Naruto walking ahead

"Well the girl is way over her head and with her condition she really should be watching herself" Tsunade told him "But pushing her limit like that, she really is like her mother"

"You should know" Jiraya told her "She was your student after all. One question though, did you know her parents had died seven years ago?"

"I figured that much" Tsunade answered sadly with a frown "I never heard anything to confirm it, but Katsumi was the only one that still managed to send letters to me even after I had gone off the grid thank to those doves of hers. So when the letters stopped after a few months I figure something must have happened."

"Weird how something like that happened but neither of us heard about it" Jiraya stated "Got to add that to the things she's got to explain when she wakes up"

"But I'm glad to see her relationship with her summons is as strong as her mother's" Tsunade stated looking at the flying eagle in the sky "and she looks so much like her. It sure does bring back memories"

While in the sky a bald eagle flew through the sky carrying Sara on his back.

'You really have been through a lot' Satoshi thought as he carried an unconscious Sara on his back 'Going unconscious again just after waking up, it's good one of your companions was a Medic Nin and even better it was none other than lady Tsunade'

After Sara fell unconscious he was quick to take her and fly out of her brother's reach, He then took her to her Friends when he sensed their chakra and they were almost done with their own battles.

Letting a sigh out He continued flying in the sky above the four leaf ninjas.

A while later he looked down at the four ninjas to see they had stopped at a cross road he started to fly down to see why they had stopped.

Seeing the eagle flying down towards them Tsunade had an idea as she turned Naruto.

"Beside your friend should be waking up soon and the a soak in hot springs will help her" She told the blond genin in a matter to persuade him

Naruto turned to look at the unconscious Sara before crossing his arms "Fine!" Naruto grunted

"So it's settled" The blond female said with a closed eye smile, as she started leading the way "Come on let's go!"

Satoshi hadn't heard the conversation from the start but the word hot springs was enough as lead to why they had stopped.


	33. Chapter 31

**Sara Pov**

"God damn it!" A female voice cursed, one I didn't recognize "This girl really got a knack for being unconscious!"

I opened my eyes slowly to see light all around and beside me a blurry person stood. I blinked a few times; I knew that this was where I usually talked to Yami when I was unconscious but what was that person doing here?

"Who are you?" I asked quietly "How did you get here?"

This made the said person flinch and jump and just like that she disappeared.

"Hey!" I shouted as I stood up hurriedly even though I felt a little bit light headed "Wait!"

I looked around to find the same half dark half lighted place with just me around.

"Yami!" I called "Do you know where she went?"

"Where who went?" Yami asked and I caught a hint of worry in his voice

"I saw someone here" I told him as I stared straight into the darkness "What exactly are you hiding? And why are you helping that person who ever they are?"

"I am not hiding anything!" He yelled "and you really should speak to me with more respect, making accusations like that when it was probably just a dream or a side effect from getting your head hit multiple times"

I was getting fed up with everything and I wasn't in the mood for any lying since I had more than enough on my plate after having to fight Yoshio so I finally snapped at Yami.

"Stop lying!" I yelled at the top of my voice "Can't you for once stop the lying, stop the secrets, stop the sarcasm and trust me!

You said you have been in my head for a long time, you know me inside and out, you know all of my thoughts, feelings and fears, while I don't even know your name. I have tried being nice, I didn't block you, I talked to you but you wouldn't change. I don't know what to do anymore"

I slumped to whatever ground there and lowered my head at the last sentence, which wasn't just meant for him but for everything. I felt so lost, the clock for me was ticking and even though I knew my brother wasn't working for Orochimaru by his own will, I still had no idea how to save him.

I only have realized I was crying, as tears slid down my cheeks.

"You really are an annoying brat!" A female voice said making me raise my head. I started turning my head trying to locate the owner of the voice but with no avail. "Did you get stupid or something?"

I suddenly realized where the voice was coming from, I stared at the spot with widened eyes and my mouth opened slightly.

"No way" I whispered to myself "There's just no way"

"Yes it's possible, would you close your mouth before it falls to the ground or something"

"How could you be…" I started as I stood up "Why would you even…"

"Why would I talk to you in a male voice?" She asked the question I was trying to phrase "Simple to keep you off track"

"What?" I asked her with even more confusion, she sighed before answering.

"I know you and that sensei of yours were going to look into who I am" She told me "Even if you had no chance of figuring it out, I did as an extra precaution"

I stared at the darkness from where the voice was coming with a deadpan look.

"You know I really wish I could see you right now" I told her "So I can beat you up. Keep me off the track, why think like that when you're going to be living inside my head. I have the right to know who you are"

"Not until I think you deserve to know" She informed me "I'm not going to tell you another thing about me right now so drop it"

"Fine" I told her like a pouting child, but a smile tugged at my lips, she just told me a secret about herself so I was finally making some progress.

I closed my eyes and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

_Time skipped…_

I felt myself covered with a soft blanket, opening my eyes slowly I stared at the white ceiling and realized where I was.

"I'm starting to hate waking up in hospitals" I muttered to myself but then someone replied.

"I'm guessing just as much as I hate seeing you in a hospital" Hideo sensei said I started setting up slowly.

"How long this time?" I asked him

"Not sure, you just came back early this morning" He told me "They dropped you here before lady Tsunade went to talk to the elders. So what exactly happen?"

I dropped my head at his question the fight playing in my head; I stared at my hands as I tried to find my voice.

"We ran into Orochimaru" I informed him "I had to fight Yoshio"

That moment the door opened revealing Shizune and Tsunade.

"Glad to see you finally awake" Tsunade told me as she whispered something to Shizune who nodded and left.

"Is that really you Hideo?" Tsunade asked turning to Hiroshi sensei "You sure grown up"

"Well it has been a long time lady Tsunade" He told her.

"A very long time indeed" Said Jiraya as he entered the room "Good to see you awake, Sara"

He leaned against the window in the room, while Tsunade took a seat. Both staring at me.

"Might as well stay Hideo" Tsunade told him "You could help answer some of the questions we have"

"First of all, why was Yoshio with Orochimaru?" asked Jiraya "I thought he went missing"

I didn't answer right away, I needed to give the best answer the woman in front of me was the fifth hokage, she held Yoshio's destiny in her hands, and I had to find a way to make her believe the truth.

There was also the problem that this means I needed to explain what happened seven years ago.

"Seven years ago..." Hiroshi sensei started before I could "Our clan was attacked by Orochimaru; He managed to kill a lot of people, including Akihiro and Katsumi. He also managed to capture Yoshio"

"For the last seven years most people thought Yoshio was dead" I continued keeping my voice steady though it threatened to break "but during the attack on the village at the chunin exams I ran into him and he attacked me. Before I could do anything he was gone.

The second time I saw him was when we ran into him with Orochimaru. During my fight with him I managed to remove his headband and I found on his forehead a seal, He's being controlled he's not doing this by his own will"

"You sure about that?" Tsunade asked me, to which I nodded.

"I am not that good at seals but I can read. It had the two kanjis for control" I informed her

"I don't really understand" Jiraya said "how could Orochimaru attack your clan, which is basically right next to the leaf, without any news about the attack spreading around?"

"Our clan elders did all they could to make sure no news spread" I told them "They thought it made our clan look weak"

"The thought that since Orochimaru managed to kill both the leader of the clan and his wife it would tempt others to attack our clan" Hideo sensei corrected me

"You really don't like your clan elders, do you?" Tsunade asked me with a smile, making me frown but I didn't answer.

She laughed as she shook her head, even Jiraya chuckled a bit.

"You're just like Katsumi" She told me "You look like her when she was your age and she hated the elders as well"

This made Hideo sensei chuckle a bit too.

"So I guess you knew my mother too?" I asked her

"Just knew her? She was my student" She informed me making me gasp "A talented one too"

I didn't find anything to say to that, there was so much I didn't knew that made me wish we had more time together.

I smiled though, the fact that she told me I was like my mother made me happy.

"Now though Sara" Tsunade started seriously "I read your medical file, but I need to check something myself. Jiraya! Hideo! Leave!"

At the tone of her voice they both didn't argue back Hideo sensei gave my shoulder a squeeze before leaving.

She stood up and headed towards me, putting her head to my forehead, it started glowing a green glow. After a few seconds I started feeling some pain I gripped my sheets and clenched my teeth. Suddenly the pain disappeared.  
I was slowly panting like I had run for a long time and I realized that the pain stopped when lady Tsunade had retreated her hand.

"Looks like what I thought was true" She told me as she sat in the chair where Hideo sensei was sitting "The tumor is affecting your chakra system and is being affected by it"

Seeing the confused look on my face she elaborated.

"The tumor is in the part of your brain which controls your chakra system" she informed me "So when you're chakra flares too high, or is too low it affects your tumor. It also had been affecting your chakra system itself; it's messing it up and making even the slightest usage, drain you out."

Taking her words in made a lot of things make sense. Remembering all the times I had an episode, it was either my chakra has somehow become low or I was gathering chakra, then again...

"Is it possible that I lose consciousness from low chakra before I could have an episode?" I asked her

"Yes, it's possible" Tsunade told me "The fact that the tumor is affecting your chakra system changes things. You were told that this surgery had a success chance of 20%?"

I nodded and she continued.

"With this new information the chance would drop to maybe 16%" She informed me "and also it adds another possible outcome. The first outcome is that the surgery succeeds, the second one is it fails and you could die, the final one it succeeds but you might lose the ability to use chakra"

My breathing hitched as I heard what she told me, I always knew that I could die from the surgery, I was sure to die anyway if I didn't have the surgery but to lose the ability to use my chakra which is basically what defines me as a ninja. That was a fate worse than death, not only I might have to give up on being a ninja but I will have no way to bring Yoshio back. Everything I could try to save Yoshio would be useless without chakra.

"I know it's hard to hear Sara" Tsunade said breaking my thoughts I kept looking at my hands, my bangs covering my face "Since you're so much like your mother I know how hard this is for you. But life isn't just about being a ninja, there is other-"

"Being a ninja…"I interrupted her "Was always more than a job for me. It's my life; I made it my life goal to get strong enough to protect all that I care about. If I give up on being a ninja, is just another way for me to die."

She was looking at me with widened eyes, we didn't say anything and stayed in silent till I sighed and looked at her.

"I don't know what I should do right now" I told her "Is it okay if I had some time to think about it?"

She nodded. "You should rest you still hadn't fully healed" With that she got up and turned around to leave. "And know you're not alone, you don't have to be the one to protect others" with that she left.

I laid back down, thinking about everything. And with everything that I had to think about and what happened with Yoshio, I wasn't sure if I would get any rest but after a while Tiredness took over and I drifted to sleep.


	34. Chapter 32

**Sara Pov**

Laughing, smiling and being happy were things I didn't feel right now, but ones that I had to show them if I wanted to keep the secret. This proved hard, though normally I could easily pretend to be happy. I just kept reminding myself that I might never get a chance like this again.

I had spent two days in the hospital in which thankfully only my team and sister visited, I made them keep it a secret from everyone else. Today after getting discharged I was walking with Kohana since my teammates had a mission and Lady Tsunade made me take a few days to rest and recover. This was one of the reasons Kohana was hanging with me, she wanted to make sure that I didn't run off to train, which was sort of what I was planning to do.

We both were at the dango shop eating dumplings, just the two of us which is something we haven't done in a while. But I could see that I wasn't the only one with things on her mind.

"So what's wrong?" I asked finally putting down the dumpling stick "You're unusually quiet"

She looked down and stayed quiet for a few seconds, but the look on her face showed that something was really wrong.

"What are you not telling me?" She asked finally looking me straight in the eyes "I know you don't like to tell when you have a problem and usually it's okay because at the end it passes but this time, you keep going from bad to worst"

"What are you talking about Hana?" I asked her with a smile, even though I was a bit surprised she noticed everything "Nothing's wrong, you don't have to worry"

"Something's wrong!" She told me raising her voice slightly and tears started running down her cheeks "You have been ending in the hospital a lot more than you had in the previous years. You keep spacing out; you even got hurt losing control over your dark chakra. You're my sister I can tell when you're lying; can't you just tell me the truth?"

I sighed and looked at her giving her a genuine smile.

"Don't worry yourself Hana; I promise I won't be going down that easily besides all I need is a day out with my little sis to get my head clear again and forget about my worries" I told her than ruffled her hair "Wipe your tears and smile, I don't like to tell you my problems not just because the fact I don't want to worry anyone but also because you're my little sis and that what big siblings do. They protect their little siblings and they try to make sure they have nothing to worry about. You're just a kid enjoy it while it lasts you'll have plenty of time to worry later. What you can help me with is smile and let's enjoy our day out"

She stared at me for a few seconds before smiling and wiping her tears.

"Okay" She told me "Because I know you always keep your promises."

I carried Kohana on my back as she slept; I was walking back to our house at the clan compound. I stared at the starry night enjoying the peace and quiet.

'I always keep my promises' I thought 'No matter what; I am not going to die that easily. Even if I lose the ability to use chakra I will just improve my Taijutsu. I will keep on living, because I have a reason to'

I entered our house and after laying Kohana on her bed, I made my way back to the second floor. I took a breath as I opened the door to Yoshio's room.

'I haven't been here in seven years' I thought as my fingers touched the desk in the room with all the dust on it.

It was somewhat like my room, except for the fact that it wasn't as bare on one wall stood a small bookcase and on another was full of pictures.

I made my way to the bookcase and looked at the book titles and the scrolls as my fingers touched them.

'If I need a way to help Yoshio than what better place to look then the library of a seal using ninja' I thought as I drew one of the books 'I made promise to save you Yoshio and I am going to keep that promise'

"Come on let me go!" I screamed at the two people dragging me "I am not allowed to train or go on missions, can't you let me read in peace!"

"Kohana told us you have been locked in their for the last three days" Shika yelled as he continued to pull "Stop being a drag"

"Come on Sara! We will go Yakiniku Q and have some food" Choji said as he started to drool.

To put it simple I was being dragged by Shika and Choji through the village roads all the way from my house, I kept struggling but I was in no condition to give them a real fight. Those two got the pleasure of dragging me around since everyone else were on missions, Ino had to help her parents at her shop and my sister had school she met those two on her way and told them.

"I don't want to eat I have to read those books!" I yelled as I continued to struggle.

"You don't have to read them it's not like your life depends on it" Shika yelled back, more to it Choji was lost in his own world while I was struggling against Shika.

"Not my life but my br-" I said but then covered my mouth with my hand causing Shika to fall forward right in front of me. "You know what lets go have something to eat."

"Now wait a second" Shika stopped me as he stood up "What was that you were going to say?"

"And it's my treat too, how about it Choji?" I asked ignoring Shika's question "You guys are lucky I have some money on me despite being dragged out of my own house"

"Come on let's go!" Choji Shouted as he dragged both Shika and me at full speed.

"That will cost me all the money I have on me" I cried as Choji ate. We were sitting in Yakiniku Q Choji and Shika sat on one side while I sat on the other.

"You're the one that offered, even though as a man I should be the one to pay" Shika commented and it was the first thing he said since my almost slip.

While Choji dug in and ate all that his hands could reach, I tried to salvage something to eat myself. Shika on the other hand didn't touch anything and kept staring at me and I knew why.

'I can't believe I almost let myself slip' I thought as I chewed a piece of meat "Knowing Shika he won't' let it go that if he hadn't figured it out already'

"You know what Choji; we really haven't had a completion in a very long time. How about we have one now?" I challenged Choji he looked at me seriously before he smirked.

"You're on!" He shouted and with that our eating competition started.

So with that we both started eating like there was no tomorrow and mind you I had some advantage, since I hadn't really eaten that much the last three days.

After our table was completely empty, it turned out that still with my advantage I couldn't beat Choji. I moaned my head slumped on the table while Choji grinned victoriously.

"You just wait one day I will beat you Choji" I told him dramatically, Shika sighed from the side muttering about how our competitions have always been troublesome.

"I better get going though" Choji told us as he stood up and started leaving "I will see you two later"

I was suspicious the moment he stood up, Choji wasn't one to just say that he was going to go without giving a reason especially when the day wasn't over yet.

I put some money on the table before standing up.

"You know I should get going too" I said quickly since I figured that Shika was the one behind it "See you later"

I tried to outrun him to the door, but he still managed to catchup.

"Hold on just a second" He told me "We need to talk"

'Oh man!'

"Come on! You just going to stay quiet" He told me as he switched his gaze from the clouds to me "Don't women just keep on talking without stopping?"

We were sitting on the first's head and I was staying quiet and just looked at the clouds. Even though that sexist comment of his would usually get me mad and I would have really hit him hard but I was lost in my thoughts.

I was thinking hard about everything I read so far, I still hadn't found anything about the seal on Yoshio which meant that I had to be creative about how I am going to remove it.

"Come on! Talking could help" Shika continued to try and get me to talk "What did you mean someone's life depended on it?"

I looked down from the clouds.

'It used to be easy for me to confine to my friends, even if I didn't like it' I thought 'But now looking back on the little girl I was I wonder if I will ever get her back? May be I should try?'

"Someone's life on the line, Someone I care about, I don't want to say much about it but I just need to research away to help him" I told him

He looked away for a second he looked a bit annoyed but then turned back to me.

"What can I do to help?" He offered making my eyes widen a bit "It will be a drag but if it got you so worried and busy, maybe with my help we can figure it faster?"

'I can't take his help; if I do I will have to tell him about Yoshio working for Orochimaru. I trust him but its better if only a few people knew the truth'

"Don't look so worried I could take care of it" I told him smiling a bit "Besides I've got time to waste till I am fit for missions again"

He sighed.

"You're still trying to lie, but then again there's no point in pushing you" He told me

A week laterI was sitting on the first's head staring at the sky, trying to clear my mind since I was getting frustrated.

I sighed closing another scroll; it had been a couple of days since I went with Shika and Choji and after finding no luck with scrolls in Yoshio's room, I moved to our clan's library, but all scrolls basically required that I know the type of seal to break it, which I hadn't found anything about, I figured it must be something Orochimaru only knew about.

'What type of thing could break any type of seal?' was the question I had been asking myself for days hopping the answer would pop up in my head, seeing as I felt the answer was dangling right in front of my face.

I sighed looking down, it was still day time and the streets were very active. Only Lee and I were the ninjas from our age group staying at the village the rest were going constantly on missions. Needless to say was starting to get a bit restless especially since I had been spending my days locked up doing research.

Laying back down I somehow drifted back to everything that happened ever since I came to the decision to join team seven.

_-Flashback-_

_Hideo sensei and I were resting by a fire after finishing our mission. I sighed moving my head from the night sky to the fire._

_"You have been awfully quiet since we set camp for the night?" Sensei asked interrupting the silence._

_"Sensei" I said "Today is supposed to be the final exam at the academy right?"_

_"Yeah" He answered with a raised eye brow shifting his vision to me._

_"Will I was thinking of asking the hokage to place me on a newly graduated genin squad since they will be the same age and all" I said a bit nervously_

_He smiled a bit._

_"I think that would be a great idea" He said "It's about time you took a break from these missions and made some friends"_

_"Hey I have friends" I told him stubbornly._

_"I meant friends your age" He told me "You're going to talk to the hokage about it when we get back then?"_

_"Yup" I told him with a smile_

_-End of flashback-_

' I then ended up on team consisting of a lazy sensei, an emo, a fan girl and a knuckle head' I thought to myself with a smile 'Even though I only decided to join a genin team to have some free time because of the tumor but it turned out to the best'

Then of course there was the chunin exams they were pretty disastrous especially the semifinals starting with Neji's and Naruto's mat-

My eyes widened as an idea popped in my head 'That's it'

'You finally got something?' Yami asked since she was awfully quiet the whole time leaving me to my thoughts

'I think so but I am going to have to find a way to confirm it' I thought before smirking 'and I know just the person.

'He's probably here' I thought as I walked by the hot springs 'A few month with him were enough for me to know how much of a pervert he is'

'There he is' I thought as I looked at the white haired sannin sitting on the roof staring at the women on the other side 'Pervert!'

I looked at the ground till I spotted a medium sized pebble; I picked it up aimed and threw it at the pervert 'Bulls eye'

The pebble hit him on the head making him lose his balance and fall forward, a second later I heard the screams of pervert coming from inside.

"That should teach him not to spy on women again" I said out loud.

"Your Idea is pretty convincing but how do you plan exactly on doing it?" Jiraya asked after I explained the idea I had to him. We were sitting in on of training grounds away from as much people as possible.

"Using my kekkei genkai of course" I told him "It should be almost as strong at this point especially if I focus it"

"I guess it is, but your idea is something that is pretty dangerous. The smallest mistake could end both your life and Yoshio's:

"I know, but so far it's the only thing I've got"

So here I am another week later setting by the lake I took Sakura to, training my medical ninjutsu on a fish. I was going to improve my chakra control as much as possible especially since it's messed up from my tumor, what's better than medical ninjutsu to do that.

After our kekkei genkai, chakra control was what our clan was good at, that's why a lot of our clan ninja excel in the medical field.

I was allowed to train the next day after I had my idea, which was great even though I wasn't allowed to go on missions, I now could spend my time getting myself ready to save Yoshio.

As the green aura faded from my hands, I stared panting, even though I was progressing, it still wasn't proving any easier, I don't even know how I didn't notice how the tumor affected my chakra and my control over it.

"You're working pretty hard" A voice I recognized as sensei's said behind me. "You shouldn't push yourself"

I turned around to see him perched on a tree branch looking at me with a bit of worry.

"Since when did I let anything stop me" I told him with a small laugh.

"Well only someone as stubborn as you would have come with an idea like the one you're trying to pull" He told me landing on the ground and walking towards me "Jiraya told me" was his explanation to my 'How did you know?' look.

"Figures"

"I am going to help you train till I have to go on another mission, but right now you're going to rest" He told me or more like ordered.

"Fine" I complied since I saw no point in training with a bit of chakra left and I didn't want to have a seizure 'I will grab a bite and then continue'

It was almost sundown as I was walking through the village streets heading back to the lake to train after Hideo sensei left to go get ready so he could take another mission.

"Argghhh!" I heard someone exclaim at a corner, just to sense Naruto's chakra with Sakura and Sasuke. "I can't believe it was all a waste in the end"

I turned the corner to come face to face with a frustrated and tired team 7.

"Even after all we did…" Sakura said sighing.

"It was a complete waste of time and effort" Sasuke said annoyed.

"What's up guys?" I said catching their attention "What was a waste of effort?"

"Sara!" Sakura and Naruto greet as Sasuke just nods. "We haven't seen you in a while" Sakura stated

"I can say the same to you, but what were you guys talking about?" I asked making them sigh and scowl

"Kakashi sensei's mask" Sakura stated

"We've been trying to see his face all day" Naruto explained "But we failed every single time!"

"You've be-een t-trying to-o se-ee his-s fa-ace?" I stuttered and was pretty sure I was blushing crimson causing them to give me weird looks.

"You've seen his face, haven't you?" Sasuke accused me causing to shake my head rabidly.

I coughed trying to hide my blush as I remembered the time I saw his face.

"Trust me something are best kept hidden, especially with Kakashi" I told them as I remembered the time I wanted to see what his book was about and the time I wanted to see what was under his mask.

'He proved to me that curiosity does kill the cat' I thought

"Come on tell us!" Naruto as he was in my face "does he have a tiny mouth?"

"Or is it blimp lips?" Sakura asked too as her head was right beside Naruto's.

"Or buck's teeth?" Sasuke asked behind them.

I sweat dropped and laughed nervously as I blush even redder.

"N-n-o-o" I told them shaking my hands in front of me, thankfully I was saved by a cloud of smoke appearing between us.

"Sara, we've got trouble" Ichiro said as soon as the smoke clears, he dropped a scroll in my hand.

I opened the scroll and started reading, causing my eyes to widen.

"This is..."I then become serious as I look to Ichiro "Find Hideo sensei and tells him about this, I am going to the elders now"

"Hai" He said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke

"Sorry guys we'll talk later" I told them as I jumped away not waiting for a reply.

'This is impossible. I mean it's never happened before right?' I thought

'I assure you it never did' Yami told me

'How would you know?'

'I just do, you need to act quickly'

'I know. I just hope everyone's okay'


	35. Chapter 33

Sara Pov "But that's not possible" Said the clan elder Keiji after I had showed them the letter, He had white medium-length hair tied in a ponytail, a white short beard, and a frail looking body, He was wearing a loose fitting kimono that is held closed with a simple sash under a black waist length haori with our clan symbol.  
"But this was delivered by one of your doves, right?" asked me the second elder Takashi which I replied with a yes "So there is no way this is a mistake" he was bald and his face full of wrinkles, he was wearing a full length kimono held by a yellow sash.  
"The problem lies with who to send" Lord Fumio said as he held his chin in his hand, he had a thick beard, a somewhat old muscled body; he was wearing a traditional black kimono with a white haori with our clan symbol. "Most of our clan ninjas are on missions and the rest we need in the village here"  
"Why not just send Konoha ninjas?" I suggested getting frustrated with them wasting precious time "You know we can't do that" Keiji snarled "No one but our clan members is allowed on that island"  
"It's an emergency, no time to pay attention to that, people from outside our clan are already there we can't just wait"  
"Laws are laws!" Takashi bellowed at me "We can't allow-"  
"They're not the enemy, we need help!" I bellowed back standing up from my crouched position "If we wait people might die, or it could be late to stop them from taking whatever they're after"  
Takashi scowled at me along Keiji but before anyone could say anything else, Lord Fumio interfered.  
"That's enough! She's right we don't have time" He said making everyone on the room gape at him surprised. 'Since when does he agree with me?'  
"Go lady Hokage and inform her of the situation and request her help!" He told me snapping me out of my surprise, with a quick nod and Hai I left the building to make my way to the village.  
I was jumping on top of the buildings when I ran into Hideo sensei that turned around and started running beside me.  
I quickly informed him of what happened with the elders and like everyone he was surprised when I mentioned that Lord Fumio agreed with me.

"That's Impossible" Tsunade said after explaining the situation to her, Sensei and I stood in her office while Shizune stood beside Tsunade understanding only the part about a place being attacked, Tsunade seemed to know the how it was more bad than it seems, making me guess my mother probably told her about the place.  
"Lady Hokage we request some ninja to be sent along the two of us to help" Sensei told her which seemed to surprise he more.  
"Do your elders agree to that?" she asked us, to which we nodded. She rested her chin on her intertwined hands.  
"Ok then! Shizune!" she called making the brunette jump "Call jounins of team 7, 10 and 8 now! And tell their teams to get ready for a mission and meet at the gates in 30 minutes" Shizune nodded and ran out of the room.  
"Lady Tsunade, are you sure? I mean that many ninjas?" Sensei asked her making her nod at him "It's what we can do to help especially since your clan doesn't ask for help often" she then narrowed her eyes at me "You better watch yourself, don't push yourself into a worst condition"  
I nodded "I will go get ready and makes sure we are all set to go there"  
They nodded as I left the office, walking in the hall I stared through the window at the night sky.  
'It's one trouble after another' I thought sighing 'I just hope everyone's okay there!'  
I started running outside of the building making my way home to get my bag and weapon pouch ready.  
'On the other hand it's been seven years since I went there' I though with a smile 'can't help but feel happy to be going there again'  
'That's the worst time to be happy' Yami growled irritated 'the place getting attacked it never happened, It's not even possible the enemy you're going to face won't be a puny one'  
'I know' I thought as I jumped through the village gates 'But I won't allow them to hurt my home no matter what'

Hideo Pov As soon as Sara left the office Lady Tsunade turned to me, I could see she was thinking seriously about something.  
"I want to confirm something" She said before asking "How much is Sara like her mother?"  
I didn't need to think about the answer when in terms of likeness; Sara got her mother's looks, stubbornness and self-sacrifice, but then she also got her father's brains, temper and leadership. And that was the answer I gave Lady Tsunade.  
"I figured as much" She said worriedly "That means that she will go to any extent to ensure everyone's safety but her own…."  
She said out loud and I couldn't disagree, that was how Sara always acted.  
"On a mission like this, she probably will do just that" She continued "Hideo her condition is already bad enough, add to it pushing herself. I need you to make sure she doesn't push herself"  
"You don't have to tell me for me to do it" I told her "Watching over Sara is what I always do"  
"One more thing though…" She started and what she said did make things complicated.  
Sara Pov I had already went to my house and packed up and was now on my way to the gates. It was dusk already making me realize that we needed to step on it since we still had at least two days' worth of traveling or flying in this case.  
I landed at clearing close to the gate and big enough for me to summon the flock. Taking a deep I started forming the hand signs, before slamming my hands on the ground.  
'Summoning jutsu!' I thought instead of shouting out loud. Smoke appeared before disappearing away showing 4 birds, among them were Sadao and Satoshi. There were also Shou and Daichi they were brothers and were Satoshi's sons they were like Satoshi with his white feathers but While Satoshi head feathers were brown, Daichi had black head feathers and Shou had white head feather but brown feather covered the front of his body.  
I gave them a smile "Hadn't seen the two of you in a while?" I said to the brothers, Daichi who was the elder brother scowled at me "With all the fighting you have been going through you never thought to summon anyone but Sadao and father"  
"The rest of the flock is pretty mad too" Shou said with a frown "Emiko have been sad thinking you're mad at her"  
"Guys you know it's nothing like that" I told them waving my hand in front of me trying to explain myself "I just don't want you to get hurt"  
"Do we seem like little chicks to you?!" Daichi asked a bit angry "That's enough!" Satoshi yelled at him "You're being disrespectful, also now is not the time for this"  
"How are things there?" I asked now serious and worried "We were watching the place and looking out for enemy, they only attacked once but we're sure they're just hiding" Sadao said I could feel he was hiding something from me, I tried to read his thoughts but he had blocked me out.  
Suppressing a sigh I turned to Sadao and Satoshi "You too go back, they will need as many eyes as possible there. Daichi and Shou can help the others and I get there"  
With a Hai they both disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
"I am sorry you too, I plan to apologize to the entire flock when I see them too" I told the brothers "I know I was neglecting you but I just didn't want you to get hurt"  
Shou sighed and gave me a smile "Don't mind my idiot brother, we know you meant well"  
"Who are you calling an idiot?" Daichi turned to Shou, before turning to me "Whatever we just have to focus on the mission for now"  
Using the summoning jutsu again I summoned both Kei and Miyuki, I sent Kei to wait by the gates till everyone arrived and then he was going to bring them here. Miyuki I sent to keep Kohana Company.  
While we were waiting for the others to arrive both Daichi and Shou stayed silent till they said they were going to fly around while I waited on a branch in tree, I knew they were mad at me, I have done to them what I have done to most of my friends after the incident seven years ago, most of the time I told myself it was for the best so that they wouldn't get hurt, but after the last few month I realized I was doing it for my sake rather then there's.  
The bushes rustled a bit and soon after the three teams emerged along with sensei led by Kei.  
"Come on! Why did we have to walk here? What's this mission all about anyway?" Naruto asked loudly, everyone looked a bit ticked by his loud voice even though I could see that the genins were all thinking the same thing.  
"You don't have to be so loud Naruto!" I said grabbing their attention as I jumped from where I was sitting "you will know everything in time"  
I noticed the jounins were giving me odd looks but I put it aside for now, it was already night and we needed to get there ASAP.  
I turned to the sky, and whistled loudly. After a few seconds Daichi and Shou landed in front of me.  
"I hope none of are afraid of heights?" I told them with a smile as a few puffs of smoke bellowed revealing 6 other Daichis and 6 other Shous.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto, Sakura, Ino Screamed as we rushed through the clouds. We were all riding Daichi or Shou's clones and rushing at full speed towards our destination. Those three were the only ones screaming but I could see that the rest of the genins were bothered by it too. Hinata looked ready to faint, Choji and Kiba were clutching for their lives while Akamaru was inside Kiba's jacket. Shino wasn't shaken neither were Sasuke but Shikamaru was staring lazily at the clouds while I could see he was bit tense but was trying to hide it.  
The jounins on the other hand looked serious and a bit worried they did know what this mission was after all.  
We had been travelling for about a day and it was already midday I think if it wasn't for the fact we were flying I think they would have fallen asleep already.  
"Are there any land near?" I asked Shou who I was riding.  
"We still aren't over sea" He told me "Ok then! Everyone we're going to land for a break!" I shouted Everyone nodded some were nodding like there was no tomorrow. We started to make our way down I could see a clearing close enough for us to land. The terrain was all forest for the most part but ahead I could see the end of it and starting of some green fields.  
"Why did we stop exactly?" Daichi asked a bit irritated after we landed, Naruto was kissing the ground saying how he was never going to leave it again, the other genins were a bit shaken but all in all fine. The clones were gone leaving the real brothers in front of me.  
"We need to be at full strength when we arrive if we were to be of any help" Hideo sensei explained "besides you two could use the rest as well"  
"He's right guys! None of us has slept since last night including the two of you" I told them "Fine" Daichi said disappearing in a puff of smoke while Shou sighed.  
"Don't mind him, He's just being himself! Summon us when you're ready to head out again!" He told me after I nodded He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

We had setup camp and were all huddled around a small fire all of us ready to go to bed after a long sleepless day.  
"So what exactly is our mission?" Sasuke asked causing all the genins to snap out from there semi sleep state almost everyone Naruto was still barely keeping himself awake.  
"Well, to explain your mission in simple, a village that's on an island a bit south east from here, the village is known by the village of Heiwa has been attacked and our mission is to help them fend off the attackers" Sensei explained "This mission is an A rank mission" "An A rank?" Some of the genins question "But if that's the case wouldn't it have been better to send chunins instead of genins?" Shika questioned "Yeah! Not like we're weaklings or anything but if it's an A rank isn't it a bit out of our league?" Kiba questioned and Akamaru barked in agreement.  
"You guys know that the Leaf is still recovering" Asuma said while holding his cigarette between his fingers and letting out a smoke "We couldn't afford to send chunins with jounins"  
"And the village we're helping is an ally of the leaf, we had to help them in any way possible" Kakashi explained and everyone looked thoughtful.  
"There more to it than that" I said joining the conversation "The village we're going to is actually the village from where our clan come from"  
"What?" Sakura and Ino questioned "Look guys what we're about to tell you is classified information" I told them "Normally those who know this either belong to our clan or a selected few"  
"You're senseis have already been informed of the situation and of this stuff. Listen closely because I am not going to repeat myself" Hideo Sensei told them. They stared intently at him "Our clan is actually from Heiwa but when the leaf was formed a part of our clan joined it but that didn't mean we lost contact with our original home.  
Heiwa is a place where the true power of our clan resides making it a target for many people thus to protect it the second user casted a barrier to protect the village"  
"The second user?" Questioned Choji "Through our clan history only three people have been able to reach the third stage of our kekkei genkai" I told them "The first was the founder of our clan and our village he was the first to master it, the second was a ninja that was very talented and had become our clan leader before the village system appeared, he was also the second one to master it. The third was a Kunochi, she was around the period of the first great ninja war, her story is a bit complicated but she never mastered it only achieved it"  
I noticed Yami growl in the back but ignored her for now.  
"Exactly, the barrier around Heiwa keeps it hidden no outsiders could see it nor can they know there location. Until recently no one has been able to get past the barrier." Hideo sensei continued "That's why this is a high ranked mission, we don't how strong our enemy is nor what their numbers are. The only fact we know is that they managed to do what's impossible to do, the barrier was placed in way to make sure no outsiders can get past it without our clan's approval and they still managed to do it"  
All the genins were a bit shocked but they seemed to understand how grave the situation was. 


	36. Chapter 34

**Sara Pov**

It was safe to say that since last night the genins were all tense not sure what to expect, except Naruto that seemed more distracted with the fact that we were in the air again.

I was a bit more nervous about the fact that I was going back there after so long, especially since I was only going back because of what was happening there.

"I have a question though!" Shouted Shika, grabbing our attention "Why would they target the village?"

"Because of the kekkei genkai of the Hiroshi clan" Kakashi was the one to answer "It was after all extinct until a few years back"

"Remember the third user, the kunoich we told you about?" Sensei asked them, to which he received nodding from most of the genins "Well she was in the end a traitor to our clan and our village, during the first ninja war she died killing all of our clan users with her at the time, even though there weren't many of them, but also prior to that she stole most of our clan scrolls regarding our kekkei genkai. Thus making it extinct since most people wasn't stupid enough to risk their lives to try master the unknown"

"I take an offend in that" I said pouting "besides it's not like I am the only one"

"So that's why they attacked your village, because they're after the other users!" Shino stated making me shake my head.

"Not because there would be no way to know that there are others like me" I told him "Whoever attacked knows the location of the village and the island, which is why the most likely know why the village was protected with a genjutsu barrier, They're probably after the source of our kekkei genkai, they're probably after The Hāto no ishidatami, the stone of heart"

"We're here" Daichi, who I was riding this time, told us stooping our conversation for now.

"Ok everyone gets ready for landing" Asuma told them as we started making our way down through the clouds.

Naruto screamed along with Sakura and Ino as we tilted down and started making it a bit fast, before stopping suddenly above water of the sea once we were beneath the clouds.

"Aren't we going to land?" Choji asked nervously, making Shou sigh.

"If we go through the barrier like this you guys will fall into the water because you wouldn't be able to pass" He explained to them.

I landed off Daichi with chakra at the bottom of my feat, so did Hideo sensei as we walked a bit ahead of the others.

"Remember the hand signs?" He asked me quietly to which I nodded

"Like the back of my hands" I told him as we both started weaving hand signs.

"Release!" we both said putting our hands forward and touching the invisible surface. Soon enough where we touched it two circles started expanding connecting together in mid process and making a gate for everyone to pass.

We both steeped aside allowing the flock with ninjas on their back to pass through the opening once everyone was inside the two of us passed as well and the gate started to close behind us restoring the barrier to its original form.

I looked back at everyone standing at the shore of the island; most of them were staring in awe at the scene.

The island was as beautiful as I remembered if not even more, just beyond the shore was a forest with tall green trees, just at the other end you could see the tops of the large mountains that surrounded that part of it, in-between was the village we were heading to but you couldn't see it from here.

"I think we can walk from here" I told Daichi and Shou "You guys should go join the others"

"Well do" Shou said, while Daichi just nodded as the clones disappeared they both flew away.

"Ok everyone gather around" Hideo sensei called "We're going to head through the forest it should take us about an hour to reach the village"

They all nodded and we started making our way through it, all the way I kept my guard up focusing on our surroundings, I could see the jounins. Even though this was my home right now there were enemies here.

Walking through the tranquil forest though was relaxing especially with the fact that the sun was going to go down soon so it seemed like the forest was glowing with the orange sun rays.

'I couldn't believe how much time had passed since the last time I have been here; last time though was with my family then again I think right now I was with a different kind of family.' I thought with a smile looking at everyone walking ahead led by sensei.

"This sure is a beautiful place" I heard Kurenai say to Asuma "Hard to believe we could get attacked"

"Yeah" Asuma answered

We kept walking for about an hour; at some point we had to climb a steep part in the forest in the end we made our way out of the forest to the top of a hill overlooking the village.

The village hasn't changed much it still had the large green areas in front of the beginning of the streets, the stone tiled streets, the buildings of different shapes and sizes and at the very end you could see the large stone building, the temple where the stone resided.

"Oi wait Naruto" Kakashi yelled snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked at them to see Naruto racing down the hill to the village.

"No way, last one at the village buys us ramen when we get back sensei!" He yelled back as he continued running.

"There's no chance am I buying you anything!" Kiba yelled too as he followed Naruto with Akamaru running beside him.

"Free food!" Choji as he followed the two

"Wait up Choji" Yelled Shika too as he followed him.

"Well there is no way am I going to get out run by them" Said Sasuke as he followed them followed by the two squealing fan girls, and in the end both of Hinata and Shino followed leaving all the jounins sweat dropping while I just laughed and walked ahead of them.

"Since I don't want to pay" I said as I started to run after them "See you at the finish line!" I could swear their sweat drops only got bigger.

I ran all the way catching with everyone midway as we were running through the open field to the village, It was really amazing just running like that, well till the three of us stopped seeing as three people were blocking our way, to be more specific three 13 year olds.

"Shit!" I said as soon as I saw them; the genins were divided between confusion and being guarded.

Soon enough I was jumping in the air to avoid the punch directed at the place I was standing in. The one to attack was the female of the group, she had short black hair tied in short ponytail, she also had Brown eyes and a bit of light colored skin.

She was wearing a red skirt with fishing net shorts reaching her knees, a short sleeved loose white shirt with fishnet underneath, along with half fingered red gloves and black ninja shoes.

'I am so in trouble' I thought to myself as I landed on the ground with a sigh, and looked at the furious look on her face.

**Third Pov**

The genins were shocked when their friend was just attacked, while most stayed in horror, Sasuke, Shino and Shikamaru were about to act when they were stopped by the two other boys in the trio.

The taller of the two had sharp brown eyes, black hair that reached the end of his shin, He was staring an open black short sleeved jacket with a dark green high collared shirt underneath along with black knee length shorts and black ninja shoes also bandages covering his leg from his knees to his shoes. He was giving them all a blank poker faced look.

The second one had short black hair and brown eyes, he was wearing a sleeveless high collared red shirt and black jeans short along with black ninja shoes, he a more relaxed attitude resting his hands behind his head as he steeped in front of the genins who were now joined by the jounins, who were shocked by what they saw from a distance.

They had seen Sara evade the punch but on the other she could have easily stopped it instead along with the one punched. Hideo on the other hand just sighed.

"Oi sensei! Long time no see!" Exclaimed the shorter one with a goofy grin.

"It has been a while hasn't it? Takao! Akihiro! "Hideo greeted the two boys

"Wait a second! You know those punks?!" Naruto questioned shouting causing an irk mark to appear on Takao, who was the shorter boy.

"Who you calling punks? Ay?" Takao questioned raising a fist in Naruto's direction, but their fight was interrupted by the sound of another fist hitting the ground.

They looked towards the sound to find out that Sara had evaded another punch yet again.

"Shouldn't we help her, sensei?" Ino questioned Asuma, while everyone was still confused at the exchange.

"No need" Hideo was the one to answer.

"Yup you see what _Yumi_ is doing is just getting a little a payback, but she wouldn't really hurt Sara...much" Takao answered nonchalantly causing everyone to sweat drop at his comment.

"Never mind him!" Akihiro told everyone "Sara should be just fine, she have dealt with Yumiko being mad before, even if it was a while ago"

"You sure we shouldn't interfere?" Shikamaru was the one to ask as his eyes drifted to Sara who was backing away from the punches trying to hit her.

"I think so" Hideo told him.

On the other hand, Sara continued to evade the incoming punches, sure she had dealt with an angry Yumiko before but it doesn't mean it made it any easier.

"Come on Yumiko can't we talk it out?" She questioned jumping back to make some distance between them.

"Seven years! Seven years and you didn't think of sending at least a message?" Yumiko questioned charging at Sara who jumped away "We thought you were injured or even worse dead when we heard about what happened, we only found out that you were okay because of your flock. You know how scared or worried we were?"

She charged again, Sara was feeling guilty for making her friends worry as she evaded yet again.

"Not one visit or a message in 7 years!" She continued "What type of friend or family does that?!"

Yumi charged again but this Sara let herself be hit, she was thrown back a small distance and she landed on the ground on her back.

Yumi stood there taking her breath, looking at Sara as she stood up and came closer to her.

"I am sorry!" Sara told her, but her voice was so quiet that was almost like a whisper "I never meant to make you guys feel like that, I just..."

She was interrupted by a hug from Yumi" shocking her in a way.

"Just glad to see you again, we really did miss you" Yumi told her as Sara snapped out of her shock and hugged her back "But look at you you're taller than me now. I mean when we were kids we were the same height. Your hair is so beautiful too"

While Yumi now continued to rumble about other things Sara just smiled at her.

"I can't believe your mood swings Yumi?" Takao said sighing as he and the others approached the two girls.

"You've something to say Takao?" Yumiko said as she grew an anime vain

"You owe me for leaving me to deal with those two for seven years alone" Akihiro told Sara as they watched the two bicker.

Yumiko though stopped with the fighting as she noticed the others, turning to the Konoha nins who were watching the scenes awkwardly.

"Sorry about what I did" Yumiko apologized "It was just a misunderstanding! Anyway we were sent to welcome you to our village. I'm Yumiko Hiroshi, nice to meet you!"

"My name is Akihiro Hiroshi"

"And I'm Takao Hiroshi"

They were followed by the Konoha Nin as they introduced themselves as well, except not all went smoothly.

"Naruto? What kind of name is that?" Akihiro mocked causing Naruto to grow an anime vein but before he can react, Akihiro was on the ground holding his head after being hit by Yumi.

"Sorry for his rudeness" She apologized.

"Idiot! Don't insult our guests" Akihiro lectured him as he crouched beside him.

**Sara Pov**

Sensei sighed at the exchange between the three, while I just smiled.

'It looks like not much has changed in seven years'

"You two come on!" Aki told them "Sorry about those two, we will show you the way to the house of the village head!"

"That would be appreciated!" Kakashi told them with a closed eye smile.

'Sara!' Sadao's voice said to me 'I am coming to get you'

'Huh? Why?' I thought back to him

'The ha- I mean Lady Susumu Wants to see us' He thought to me.

"WHAT?!" I shouted as soon as he told me, making everyone turn to me.

"Is something wrong?" Kurenai asked me with concern

"Nothing's wrong! Nothing at all" I told her with a wave and a little chuckle. "But it looks like I won't be coming with you right away"

"Why is that?" Asuma asked smoking

"Let me guess, Lady Susumu wants to see you right?" Yumi told me gleefully

"How did you know?" I asked her.

"You just freaked out of nowhere, so Sadao was probably telling you. Besides Lady was one of the few that could get you so freaked out" She answered me making me depressed.

"Yup she does and Sadao is coming to get me"

"Who's this Lady Susumu?" Kiba asked

I looked up to see Sadao approaching.

"That's a story for another time, she doesn't like to be kept waiting" I told him and as soon as Sadao was close enough I jumped on his back without him stopping and we were gaining height again.

"I will see you at the head's house later" I shouted back waving.


	37. Chapter 35

**Sara Pov**

It was safe to say that since last night the genins were all tense not sure what to expect, except Naruto that seemed more distracted with the fact that we were in the air again.

I was a bit more nervous about the fact that I was going back there after so long, especially since I was only going back because of what was happening there.

"I have a question though!" Shouted Shika, grabbing our attention "Why would they target the village?"

"Because of the kekkei genkai of the Hiroshi clan" Kakashi was the one to answer "It was after all extinct until a few years back"

"Remember the third user, the kunoich we told you about?" Sensei asked them, to which he received nodding from most of the genins "Well she was in the end a traitor to our clan and our village, during the first ninja war she died killing all of our clan users with her at the time, even though there weren't many of them, but also prior to that she stole most of our clan scrolls regarding our kekkei genkai. Thus making it extinct since most people wasn't stupid enough to risk their lives to try master the unknown"

"I take an offend in that" I said pouting "besides it's not like I am the only one"

"So that's why they attacked your village, because they're after the other users!" Shino stated making me shake my head.

"Not because there would be no way to know that there are others like me" I told him "Whoever attacked knows the location of the village and the island, which is why the most likely know why the village was protected with a genjutsu barrier, They're probably after the source of our kekkei genkai, they're probably after The Hāto no ishidatami, the stone of heart"

"We're here" Daichi, who I was riding this time, told us stooping our conversation for now.

"Ok everyone gets ready for landing" Asuma told them as we started making our way down through the clouds.

Naruto screamed along with Sakura and Ino as we tilted down and started making it a bit fast, before stopping suddenly above water of the sea once we were beneath the clouds.

"Aren't we going to land?" Choji asked nervously, making Shou sigh.

"If we go through the barrier like this you guys will fall into the water because you wouldn't be able to pass" He explained to them.

I landed off Daichi with chakra at the bottom of my feat, so did Hideo sensei as we walked a bit ahead of the others.

"Remember the hand signs?" He asked me quietly to which I nodded

"Like the back of my hands" I told him as we both started weaving hand signs.

"Release!" we both said putting our hands forward and touching the invisible surface. Soon enough where we touched it two circles started expanding connecting together in mid process and making a gate for everyone to pass.

We both steeped aside allowing the flock with ninjas on their back to pass through the opening once everyone was inside the two of us passed as well and the gate started to close behind us restoring the barrier to its original form.

I looked back at everyone standing at the shore of the island; most of them were staring in awe at the scene.

The island was as beautiful as I remembered if not even more, just beyond the shore was a forest with tall green trees, just at the other end you could see the tops of the large mountains that surrounded that part of it, in-between was the village we were heading to but you couldn't see it from here.

"I think we can walk from here" I told Daichi and Shou "You guys should go join the others"

"Well do" Shou said, while Daichi just nodded as the clones disappeared they both flew away.

"Ok everyone gather around" Hideo sensei called "We're going to head through the forest it should take us about an hour to reach the village"

They all nodded and we started making our way through it, all the way I kept my guard up focusing on our surroundings, I could see the jounins. Even though this was my home right now there were enemies here.

Walking through the tranquil forest though was relaxing especially with the fact that the sun was going to go down soon so it seemed like the forest was glowing with the orange sun rays.

'I couldn't believe how much time had passed since the last time I have been here; last time though was with my family then again I think right now I was with a different kind of family.' I thought with a smile looking at everyone walking ahead led by sensei.

"This sure is a beautiful place" I heard Kurenai say to Asuma "Hard to believe we could get attacked"

"Yeah" Asuma answered

We kept walking for about an hour; at some point we had to climb a steep part in the forest in the end we made our way out of the forest to the top of a hill overlooking the village.

The village hasn't changed much it still had the large green areas in front of the beginning of the streets, the stone tiled streets, the buildings of different shapes and sizes and at the very end you could see the large stone building, the temple where the stone resided.

"Oi wait Naruto" Kakashi yelled snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked at them to see Naruto racing down the hill to the village.

"No way, last one at the village buys us ramen when we get back sensei!" He yelled back as he continued running.

"There's no chance am I buying you anything!" Kiba yelled too as he followed Naruto with Akamaru running beside him.

"Free food!" Choji as he followed the two

"Wait up Choji" Yelled Shika too as he followed him.

"Well there is no way am I going to get out run by them" Said Sasuke as he followed them followed by the two squealing fan girls, and in the end both of Hinata and Shino followed leaving all the jounins sweat dropping while I just laughed and walked ahead of them.

"Since I don't want to pay" I said as I started to run after them "See you at the finish line!" I could swear their sweat drops only got bigger.

I ran all the way catching with everyone midway as we were running through the open field to the village, It was really amazing just running like that, well till the three of us stopped seeing as three people were blocking our way, to be more specific three 13 year olds.

"Shit!" I said as soon as I saw them; the genins were divided between confusion and being guarded.

Soon enough I was jumping in the air to avoid the punch directed at the place I was standing in. The one to attack was the female of the group, she had short black hair tied in short ponytail, she also had Brown eyes and a bit of light colored skin.

She was wearing a red skirt with fishing net shorts reaching her knees, a short sleeved loose white shirt with fishnet underneath, along with half fingered red gloves and black ninja shoes.

'I am so in trouble' I thought to myself as I landed on the ground with a sigh, and looked at the furious look on her face.

**Third Pov**

The genins were shocked when their friend was just attacked, while most stayed in horror, Sasuke, Shino and Shikamaru were about to act when they were stopped by the two other boys in the trio.

The taller of the two had sharp brown eyes, black hair that reached the end of his shin, He was staring an open black short sleeved jacket with a dark green high collared shirt underneath along with black knee length shorts and black ninja shoes also bandages covering his leg from his knees to his shoes. He was giving them all a blank poker faced look.

The second one had short black hair and brown eyes, he was wearing a sleeveless high collared red shirt and black jeans short along with black ninja shoes, he a more relaxed attitude resting his hands behind his head as he steeped in front of the genins who were now joined by the jounins, who were shocked by what they saw from a distance.

They had seen Sara evade the punch but on the other she could have easily stopped it instead along with the one punched. Hideo on the other hand just sighed.

"Oi sensei! Long time no see!" Exclaimed the shorter one with a goofy grin.

"It has been a while hasn't it? Takao! Akihiro! "Hideo greeted the two boys

"Wait a second! You know those punks?!" Naruto questioned shouting causing an irk mark to appear on Takao, who was the shorter boy.

"Who you calling punks? Ay?" Takao questioned raising a fist in Naruto's direction, but their fight was interrupted by the sound of another fist hitting the ground.

They looked towards the sound to find out that Sara had evaded another punch yet again.

"Shouldn't we help her, sensei?" Ino questioned Asuma, while everyone was still confused at the exchange.

"No need" Hideo was the one to answer.

"Yup you see what _Yumi_ is doing is just getting a little a payback, but she wouldn't really hurt Sara...much" Takao answered nonchalantly causing everyone to sweat drop at his comment.

"Never mind him!" Akihiro told everyone "Sara should be just fine, she have dealt with Yumiko being mad before, even if it was a while ago"

"You sure we shouldn't interfere?" Shikamaru was the one to ask as his eyes drifted to Sara who was backing away from the punches trying to hit her.

"I think so" Hideo told him.

On the other hand, Sara continued to evade the incoming punches, sure she had dealt with an angry Yumiko before but it doesn't mean it made it any easier.

"Come on Yumiko can't we talk it out?" She questioned jumping back to make some distance between them.

"Seven years! Seven years and you didn't think of sending at least a message?" Yumiko questioned charging at Sara who jumped away "We thought you were injured or even worse dead when we heard about what happened, we only found out that you were okay because of your flock. You know how scared or worried we were?"

She charged again, Sara was feeling guilty for making her friends worry as she evaded yet again.

"Not one visit or a message in 7 years!" She continued "What type of friend or family does that?!"

Yumi charged again but this Sara let herself be hit, she was thrown back a small distance and she landed on the ground on her back.

Yumi stood there taking her breath, looking at Sara as she stood up and came closer to her.

"I am sorry!" Sara told her, but her voice was so quiet that was almost like a whisper "I never meant to make you guys feel like that, I just..."

She was interrupted by a hug from Yumi" shocking her in a way.

"Just glad to see you again, we really did miss you" Yumi told her as Sara snapped out of her shock and hugged her back "But look at you you're taller than me now. I mean when we were kids we were the same height. Your hair is so beautiful too"

While Yumi now continued to rumble about other things Sara just smiled at her.

"I can't believe your mood swings Yumi?" Takao said sighing as he and the others approached the two girls.

"You've something to say Takao?" Yumiko said as she grew an anime vain

"You owe me for leaving me to deal with those two for seven years alone" Akihiro told Sara as they watched the two bicker.

Yumiko though stopped with the fighting as she noticed the others, turning to the Konoha nins who were watching the scenes awkwardly.

"Sorry about what I did" Yumiko apologized "It was just a misunderstanding! Anyway we were sent to welcome you to our village. I'm Yumiko Hiroshi, nice to meet you!"

"My name is Akihiro Hiroshi"

"And I'm Takao Hiroshi"

They were followed by the Konoha Nin as they introduced themselves as well, except not all went smoothly.

"Naruto? What kind of name is that?" Akihiro mocked causing Naruto to grow an anime vein but before he can react, Akihiro was on the ground holding his head after being hit by Yumi.

"Sorry for his rudeness" She apologized.

"Idiot! Don't insult our guests" Akihiro lectured him as he crouched beside him.

**Sara Pov**

Sensei sighed at the exchange between the three, while I just smiled.

'It looks like not much has changed in seven years'

"You two come on!" Aki told them "Sorry about those two, we will show you the way to the house of the village head!"

"That would be appreciated!" Kakashi told them with a closed eye smile.

'Sara!' Sadao's voice said to me 'I am coming to get you'

'Huh? Why?' I thought back to him

'The ha- I mean Lady Susumu Wants to see us' He thought to me.

"WHAT?!" I shouted as soon as he told me, making everyone turn to me.

"Is something wrong?" Kurenai asked me with concern

"Nothing's wrong! Nothing at all" I told her with a wave and a little chuckle. "But it looks like I won't be coming with you right away"

"Why is that?" Asuma asked smoking

"Let me guess, Lady Susumu wants to see you right?" Yumi told me gleefully

"How did you know?" I asked her.

"You just freaked out of nowhere, so Sadao was probably telling you. Besides Lady was one of the few that could get you so freaked out" She answered me making me depressed.

"Yup she does and Sadao is coming to get me"

"Who's this Lady Susumu?" Kiba asked

I looked up to see Sadao approaching.

"That's a story for another time, she doesn't like to be kept waiting" I told him and as soon as Sadao was close enough I jumped on his back without him stopping and we were gaining height again.

"I will see you at the head's house later" I shouted back waving.


	38. Chapter 36

**Third Pov**

The night was quiet on the village of Heiwa; slow a bit chilly wind was passing through it as well, but in the skies on the back of a sparrow sat Sara. She hadn't taken any notice of the how deserted the village looked, it was more like the quietness was just what she needed as she lost herself in her thoughts.

As her thoughts swirled, she was sure of a few things. Yoshio was in the forest among the ninjas that attacked the village, in that case the secret was out she would have to explain everything to her friends. She would have to explain how Yoshio wasn't doing this by his free will, that it was because Orochimaru was controlling him and hopefully they would understand.

Another thing Orochimaru he was the one behind the attack on her village, both her villages. If he was here in person it was sure to get troublesome, she was in no shape to fight him and he wasn't a legendary sanin for nothing facing him – even with all of them – wasn't going to be an easy job nor could she really know if they can defeat him.

This mission might be her only chance to save her brother and she was determined to not waste it even if it took her life.

Back at the head's village, everyone were shocked about what Akihiro had just told them, almost everybody Hideo was clenching his hand, while Kakashi had narrowed his eyes.

The two of them understood one important thing this mission might have just turned S-rank if Orochimaru was here himself.

"Wait a second how is that possible?" Kiba questioned "Wasn't her brother MIA?" He was remembering the conversation they had that day after the spar.

"You guys don't know anything do you?" Takao stated "You don't know what happened seven years ago?"

"They don't know that it's been kept a secret" Kakashi explained

"But everyone thought that Yoshio was gone by now" Asuma said

"This certainly complicates things" Kurenai said thought she had just become a jounin recently but she was one of the ninjas that assisted the Hiroshi clan back then.

"Would someone mind telling us what are you talking about?" Naruto questioned shouting "What happened seven years ago?"

Shikamaru sighed he had told Sara that they weren't going to rush her to tell them about what had happened seven years ago, but if it affects their mission it looks like they will find out with or without her consent.

"So you guys know?" A familiar voice questioned from the door, they looked up to see Sara staring at them with Manami behind her. "You know that Yoshio is here"

"Not just here but he's also one of the attackers" Akihiro clarified "I guess Lady Susumu wanted to talk to you about it"

"Sara!" Hideo sensei started grabbing her attention, he wasn't sure about what he was going to ask her but he had to give it a shot "You need to tell them what happened seven years ago! Some of the details concern our mission"

Sara bit her lips holding the frame of the door hard; she had turned her gaze to the ground but closed her eyes after a few seconds the memory playing through her mind.

"I…" She started hesitantly "I am sorry I can't"

As soon as she finished she was already running out of the house.

"Sara!" Most of them shouted after her, as Yumiko attempted to follow, Akihiro grabbed her shoulder shaking his head.

"Just give her sometime" He told everyone as they gazed after her.

Hideo sighed after that, he always tries to push her but whenever it comes to it seemed that he couldn't help Sara when it came to this particular thing.

"Looks like I will be doing the storytelling" He told them as everyone settled down, even though most of them still couldn't help but be concerned.

Outside Sara was running she had dropped her bag at the front door of the house, she had also managed to quickly wear her shoes as she ran.

She wasn't crying but she sure felt as she was on the verge of it.

She ran through the deserted streets, she was glad they were she didn't want anyone to see her like this.

She finally stopped when she reached a wooden bridge connecting the banks of a river, this area barely had any houses around, and it was a green open park with a great view of the night star full sky.

Sara slowly made her way towards the bridge but she didn't walk on it instead she sat by it staring at her reflection. Soon enough the memory played through her mind.

_-Flashback-_

_The five year was sound asleep till she heard the scream coming from outside, she woke up startled at it, she was still a bit groggily, but what confused her mostly what was that scream? And where was this light coming from?_

_Instead of the usual blue moonlight, there was orange light coming from her window. She got out of bed making her way to the window. One look was it all it took to remove her grogginess._

_Looking out she saw some houses on fire, in a distance she could some shinobi fighting. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the scene._

_She came to her senses quickly though, they were under attack, she was only a few days from being an official ninja, she couldn't just sit here._

_She was still in her pajamas as she reached into the weapon pouch containing the weapon she used in her training. She clipped the pouch on grapping a kunai in her right hand she made her way out of the room._

_She guessed that her family was already on fighting outside, quickly she made her out of the house it was obvious that ninja were discovered early because the area around her house was empty, they were probably being fought at the outer areas._

_She used her chakra to climb the nearest house, looking in all directions once she was on the roof. She saw that some houses at the Far East and northeast were on fire, but at the same time she could sense multiple chakras coming from the south and south west._

_'A distraction?!' Sara thought to herself, but it was obvious they were discovered since among the chakras were that of her clan's ninjas._

_Thinking to herself it was obvious that they were having trouble containing the fire, especially since they only had two people with water chakra including her._

_Nodding to herself she started making her way towards the fire rather than the fight, she would help stop the fire before joining the fight._

_She was jumping from roof to roof rushing to the houses but at one point she jumped backward instead of forward, just as a snake lunged at where she previously stood._

_The snake was a giant purple one and she could almost see the venom that was on its fangs. She pulled out a kunai and grabbed it tightly, in this sort of fight she had the advantage of being small on her side, she would be able to move faster and even sneak attack._

_The snake lunged again Sara jumped high into the air, forming hand signs, and ending it with the tiger sign._

_"Fire style: great fireball!" She said as she inhaled before exhaling with her fingers forming a circle around her mouth. A giant fireball was formed directed towards the snake. The snake tried to avoid it but it wasn't fast enough, and got burned pretty badly._

_Sara landed on the ground in a crouched position, looking at the smoke that was rising from the burned snake; it was twitching like it was going to move again but instead disappeared in a puff of smoke. _

_"I can see that what they say is true!" A voice said in amusement she looked towards its owner, who was standing opposite to her. He was a white skinned man with long black hair and snake like eyes. Orochimaru was who she recognized him to be. She had never met him before but she did know of the three legendry sannins._

_But looking at him smirking like he was with the strong chakra radiating from him she froze. Her eyes widened as she stared at him. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her but it was like she was paralyzed._

_"You really are quite the prize Sara!" He told her "I see you have quite the talent and let's not forget you have managed to unlock your clan's lost kekkei genkai"_

_He started walking towards her. Thankfully her body finally decided to obey her and move; she took a step back shaking as he took a step forward causing him to chuckle._

_"Are you afraid, Sara?!" He asked in amusement, taking more steps forward causing her to tremble more "Don't worry I am not going to hurt you…much! You're going to be quite the lab rat"_

_She was trembling even more, she had never been this afraid before but his chakra and bloodlust were too strong for her._

_At that moment, Orochimaru side jumped just as Katsumi Hiroshi was aiming a punch to him from above. Her hands came in contact with the ground causing a huge hole to appear. _

_"Katsumi long time no see!" Orochimaru told the black haired woman._

_"Don't you dare come any closer to my daughter!" She warned him as she stood up, she looked completely furious, her black hair was tied in high ponytail it's end reaching the mid of her back, she was wearing the Konoha ninja uniform too and her headband was on her forehead._

_Sara, despite still being fearful, felt safer now that her mother was here._

_"Fire style: phoenix flower jutsu!" A male voice said from above, just as small fire shoots headed towards Orochimaru, who avoided them easily._

_While Orochimaru was avoiding the fire shots, a male with messy black hair and wearing the Konoha shinobi uniform too jumped beside Katsumi._

_Both Katsumi and Akihiro Hiroshi were standing in front of their daughter, while Orochimaru was standing opposite to them, smirking. _

_"Katsumi, take Sara and get out of here!" Akihiro told her quietly so only she can hear._

_"You can't possibly be thinking of taking him on by yourself?!" She asked him horrified_

_"We're no match for him, even together. What matters is keeping our clan and daughter safe! For that we have to hold on till backup comes from the village, now I will give you an opening grab Sara and get out of here."_

_"No I am not leaving you alone!" she argued with him causing him to smile_

_"You're always too stubborn, but just this once do what I say for our daughter!" He told her "Remember I love you!"_

_He charged forward unsheathing his katana._

_Katsumi stared at her husband as he charged forward, she could easily follow and fight by his side, but her eyes darted to her daughter and softened, her daughter looked so afraid._

_Biting her lips she ran in her daughter's direction, picking her up before she started running with her away._

_She could feel the tears that threatened to fall, but she had to hold them in no matter what, she wouldn't let them. She had to focus on protecting her daughter she won't let Orochimaru lay a hand on her daughter._

_Akihiro was relieved when he saw Katsumi and Sara getaway; he focused his attention back to Orochimaru._

_"How sweet! You actually think you can defeat me?" Orochimaru mocked causing Akihiro to tighten his hands around his katana._

_Akihiro didn't waste his words as he passed his chakra through the katana. Even though this could be his last fight, he wasn't going to go down easily._

_Katsumi on the other hand was herself getting ready to fight; both she and Sara were surrounded by six of Orochimaru's henchmen. Sara had snapped out of her terrified state and was about to stand beside her mother to help her fight but she was stopped by her mother._

_"No sweetie, I will take care of those scum" Katsumi told her, she didn't want her daughter to kill anyone, even though she was about to become a Kunochi she was still too young._

_The ninja charged together at Katsumi who only narrowed her eyes, before crouching down as the first man approached and was about to attack her with a kunai._

_She punched his chin sending him flying then falling unconscious, before holding the wrist of another she pulled him before throwing him at the man coming from the other side, both of them hit a wall very hard causing them to lay unconscious._

_She jumped above Sara, her leg hitting the man that was heading for her daughter; he fell on the ground unconscious. That was four down and two to go._

_All four were taken down in less than two minutes making the two standing still to look horrified at the strength and speed of the woman._

_In less than a second Katsumi had appeared beside the, before kicking the side of one of them causing him to hit the other one and were sent flying towards another wall, both than laid unconscious as well._

_Sara stared with wonder at her mother, this was the first time she had seen her in actual battle not one for training and she was amazed by her._

_While that Akihiro was still trying to hit Orochimaru, that looked bored._

_Akihiro hadn't managed to land any hits on Orochimaru so far while Orochimaru had landed many on Akihiro. It looked like Orochimaru was toying with Akihiro so far._

_Akihiro was known as village's best katana user, powered it his chakra passing through it, he could easily defeat his opponents, but Orochimaru had managed to avoid everyone so far while he was almost depleted Orochimaru was just fine._

_"And I thought you would be at least some fun Akihiro!" Orochimaru said mockingly "I have wasted enough time on you"_

_Orochimaru formed hand signs after biting his thumb. He put his hand on the ground for the summoning jutsu, causing lots of small snakes to appear it was like the entire ground around Orochimaru was covered by snakes now and they were slithering their way towards Akihiro._

_Akihiro jumped into the nearest building, but the snakes were fast and soon enough they were climbing the walls of the building after him. But instead of jumping to another roof like he ought to have done, Akihiro started cutting the snakes one by one._

_If he had continued to run away he would give Orochimaru the chance to follow after his family, but he wouldn't let him._

_Akihiro sheathed his sword, back fibbing over the side of the house, forming hand signs._

_"Fire style: flame flower jutsu!" He said as he shot three fire balls at the hoard of snakes on the wall, making sure to avoid the wooden roof._

_He landed on the ground looking sound for Orochimaru but he was nowhere in sight._

_"Striking shadow snake!" Orochimaru's voice said just as a snake bit Akihiro before he disappeared in puff of smoke and was replaced by a log._

_"Earth style: earth dragon bomb!" Shouted Akihiro from behind him, causing a dragon's head to appear beside him shooting mud balls at Orochimaru._

_"Why fight a losing battle, Akihiro?" Questioned Orochimaru as he dodged the incoming mud balls._

_"I won't let you lay a hand on my daughter Orochimaru!" Akihiro replied as he charged towards Orochimaru._

_"How can you stop me when you're dead?" Orochimaru mocked, Akihiro was now sending punch after kick trying to hit but to no avail, Orochimaru just kept dodging._

_Before he knew it Orochimaru had jumped back, while forming a hand sign, his neck extended and he managed to bite Akihiro in his left arm._

_The moment he did, Akihiro felt the shot of pain and fell to the ground biting his lip so hard to stop the scream that it started to bleed._

_"What have you done?" Akihiro asked as he felt another wave of pain._

_"Normally this would be a gift but right now it could prove helpful" Orochimaru walked towards him and once in front of Akihiro, he pulled Akihiro's katana "I won't take any chances. How funny you should die by your own weapon!"_

_'I guess this is it' Akihiro thought to himself as his own Katana slowly descended towards him 'I was hoping to see both Yoshio and Sara grow up, to grow old with Katsumi. But at least I managed to buy them sometime. Katsumi, Yoshio and Sara I love you. I hope you forgive me for not being beside you as you grow.'_

_The katana was shoved through his heart causing._

_Katsumi felt a bang in her heart causing to her to stop running and turn her head looking at the direction she left Akihiro at._

_She knew what that meant, but how she wished she was wrong. But she couldn't stop; she had to get Sara as far away from Orochimaru as possible._

_But she hadn't really managed to get that far she kept running into Orochimaru's henchmen and not all of them were easily defeated._

_On the sides of the clan compound, the shinobi from the clan were trying to keep the enemy out but their numbers were pretty big compared to them and some them – the couldn't find a better description- were monsters in both appearance and abilities._

_"Uncle Hideo!" Called the eleven year old as he jumped beside his uncle, both fighting the incoming enemy. "Where are mom and Dad?"_

_"They're fighting the enemy!" Hideo told Yoshio, but he was only telling half the truth._

_"Where are they? I have gone over the entire area where the enemies are I can't find a sign of them" Yoshio told him, as he punched another enemy in the stomach._

_Akihiro, Katsumi and him, had managed to find out from one of those shinobis that their target was capturing Sara and that Orochimaru was behind the entire attack. Both Katsumi and Akihiro had then left the frontal attack to Hideo and went to search for Orochimaru, they had told him not to tell Yoshio so that he won't follow._

_At that moment Katsumi was standing guard in front of Sara, Orochimaru had managed to catch up to them, Sara was now even more terrified than before._

_Both mother and daughter knew one thing though that Orochimaru being here meant that Akihiro wasn't with them anymore._

_While Katsumi had managed to hold back her tears, Sara's were flowing down her cheeks._

_"Sara!" Katsumi shouted snapping Sara out of her thoughts "Run now, I will try and keep him busy, got it? You have to run, don't stop don't look back!"_

_Sara didn't respond while she was terrified she didn't want to leave her mother alone, nor was she sure her body would obey._

_"Sara! Listen to me!" Katsumi called her again "I know you're scared but you have to remember you're going to be a shinobi in just a few days, you have to control your emotions! Now you have to run!"_

_"What heart touching words?" Orochimaru mocked "But I'm afraid I can't let her go anywhere"_

_But as he said that he jumped backwards avoiding a punch that caused the ground to crack when it made contact._

_"Run Sara!" Katsumi shouted once again, but Sara didn't have enough time._

_When she was surrounded by a hoard of snakes both her and her mother._

_"You think I would let you get away that easily again?" Orochimaru stated "I would be careful now those snakes are extremely poisonous, if you do get bitten, you would be of no use for me."_

_Katsumi was about to run to help her daughter but Orochimaru jumped in her way._

_"Show me what you've learned from your precious master!" Orochimaru told her smirking._

_Katsumi Jumped back, pulling her specialty weapon from her pouch. She wore her claws and passed her chakra through them._

_She charged towards Orochimaru so fast that normally no one would even see her, but Orochimaru did, he bent his back backwards causing Katsumi's hand to pass above him._

_He transformed his tongue into a snake to try to hold her but she was too quick for him. She crouched down and pushed his legs from underneath him. She hit him with the claws in his chest but he turned to log._

_She back flipped avoiding his extended neck, but he turned after her, but when he bit her she turned to log too._

_He barely avoided her as she tried to cut his extended neck. Retreating his neck quickly, he looked at her smirking._

_"You're even more fun than Akihiro!" He told her amuse._

_"I will make you pay!" She told him angrily._

_She charged again, the battle dragged on with both of them going on like that._

_"What?!" Yoshio questioned as he finally managed to convince Hideo to tell him the truth "But Orochimaru is one of the sannins, as good as mom and dad are they can't possibly…"_

_He stopped talking realizing that his parents were sure to know that, but despite that they went. They were ready to throw away their lives for their clan, for their family._

_"I am going after them" He told Hideo not giving him even a chance to object._

_Katsumi was almost out of chakra, gathering her resolve she pretended that she was going to charge at him but instead jumped back charging at the snakes surrounding her daughter. _

_She tried to slash through as many as she could, but there was too many of them and they were too small for her to track all of their movement._

_Eventually one of them managed to bite her, but despite that she continued to fight._

_Till she managed to get rid of all of them, she was breathing hard by then and was taken by surprise when she was kicked in the stomach and thrown away hard._

_"Mom!" Sara finally shocked out as she saw her mother thrown away._

_"You do feel the venom take effect, don't you?" Orochimaru asked her smirking "You won't be any more trouble for me"_

_He turned to Sara and was about to take her when Yoshio appeared beside her, he grabbed her and jumped backwards._

_He had used flying Raijin, a jutsu he had learned from his sensei. Good thing he already marked Sara._

_His eyes darted to his mother lying down on the ground on one side; he noticed no sign of his father, finally his eyes landed on Orochimaru._

_They just had to hold a bit longer, help was sure to come from the village soon._

_He teleported -but not very far- to his mother's side along with Sara. His mother was barely alive; he could till she only had a few minutes, he grabbed her too and teleported the three of them to another empty street in the compound._

_Sara was staring terrified and sad at her mother. Her tears were still streaming down her face._

_Yoshio was also looking grave and on the verge of tears as he looked at his mother_

_"Don't look like that sweeties!" Her mother told her between breathes "A smile suits you two more! Yoshio, I have always wanted to see you grow older find that special girl that will turn your head upside down, just like your father always said about me or see you become the clan leader; you're going to become a great leader. Sara, how I wanted to see you become a shinobi, throw you a party when you advanced in rank, maybe talk to you when you fall in love and don't know what to do and then help you prepare your wedding" she chuckled a bit but it turned to a coughing fit as Sara's tears streamed even more._

_"I think you're father wanted the same, we wanted to see both of you grow up, have families of your own, become your own person" She continued "I am sorry! We're sorry we won't be there for that, but remember we're going to be always watching over you, we're going to be always in your hearts, just remember our good memories together, watch over each other, and always remember what matters. I want you two to promise me you won't let yourselves to be blinded by revenge, to always try and face life with a smile"_

_"We promise" Yoshio told her not able to contain his tears anymore, Sara nodded too afraid if she talked her voice would fail her._

_"That's good, the shinobi world has a good side but there's also darkness try and stay away from it, always hold on to your beliefs, never give up and always try your best. I love you both so much" She continued her own tears streaming down her face but she still tried to show them a smile, her voice was weakening more by the second "we both love you so much, never forget that! Sayonara Yoshio, Sara!"_

_She said closing her eyes and Sara's tears' turned to loud cries as laid on her brother's chest sopping._

_Yoshio himself was crying, as he rested his head on hers._

_"Well! Well! Isn't this such a lovely moments between siblings?" He said mockingly "So heart touching._

_Before Yoshio and Sara can even react, Orochimaru was in front of them Kicking Yoshio away from her._

_"Your family really is annoying they have caused enough delay for me" He told Sara as he tried, but after just seeing her mother die in front of her she wasn't about to be afraid of this man._

_She grabbed a kunai from her pouch and slashed the hand that tried to grab her or at least tried he had managed to retreat his hand in time._

_"You foolish girl!" Orochimaru told her "You think you can succeed where your parents who have more experience than you failed?"_

_"That would be enough Orochimaru!" A voice said causing Orochimaru to jump back just the owner of the voice jumped in front of Sara._

_"Sarutobi- sensei!" Orochimaru spitted licking his mouth "Well I don't really have time for this right now, looks like my original mission just got ruined."_

_He turned his gaze the boy behind him who was trying to recover from being thrown and hitting his head on the wall causing blood to trickle down his face._

_Orochimaru appeared beside him and hit the back of his neck causing him to lose conscience._

_"I guess he will do for now" Orochimaru said as he grabbed Yoshio._

_"Yoshio!" Sara screamed and got up and attempted to run to him but was stopped by the third._

_"Put the boy down" The third Hokage told Orochimaru._

_"I don't think I will! He has talent and will act as the perfect bait for what I am after" He said "I will see you around Sarutobi- sensei"_

_As he said that he started to disappear in a flame till he was gone._

_Sara dropped to the ground on her hands, In that night she had lost both her parents, saw her mother die in front of her, her brother taken, members of the clan died all because that snake was after her._

_It was all her fault._


	39. Chapter 37

**On another note starting this chapter i am going to try to use honorofics the reason I didn't at first because when I started watching Naruto i watched it dubbed so my knowledge of japanese was limited but I am improving in that department any advice or help would be highly appreciated**

**PLS READ THE AUTHOR NOTE AT THE END!**

**Third Pov**

Sara was wiping her eyes furiously; her eyes had betrayed her as tear fell from them, eventually she ended up just covering her face to hide them away despite being the only on beside the river.

But after the memory of that day her brain didn't stop at that but has also recalled the memories that followed.

_-Flashback-_

_The sun shone high in the sky; the winds were still but still giving you that perfect summer breeze. In all it was the perfect weather to be out in Konoha instead of staying inside, that what most were doing walking on the streets smiling, out with their families or their loved ones, kids running and playing, they were happy._

_But inside Konoha's hospital many were still recovering from last night's incident, one that apparently a few knew about. Last night wasn't a happy day for the Hiroshi clan, it was even sadder for young Sara._

_Physically, there was nothing wrong with her; she was great, emotionally though she was completely traumatized. After being saved by the Third Hokage, Sara like most was taken to the hospital to recover and since then she hadn't said a single word nor has she been responding in any way. Her face kept a blank face, no emotion showing on her face at all and while she sat on the bed in the hospital, all she did was keep staring at her hands placed in her lap, as much as the nurses tried they couldn't get her to eat or move or respond._

_Despite that, inside her mind Sara wasn't as quiet as she appeared to be, she was broken, guilty, sad, lonely, tearful, angry, and hateful. Her emotions were on overdrive, so were her thoughts, especially after last night, when she had tried to sleep she had gotten nightmares of what happened causing her to wake up and she had stayed awake since then._

_'It was my entire fault' she thought to herself 'He was after me, my parents died because of that along many others, many were injured, and Yoshio was taken. All because of me and what did I do I just stayed silent, scared, didn't even raise a finger to help, I was useless._

_Maybe I should have just let him take me, if I had Dad would still be here, Mom would still be here, Nee-san would still be here. They would be okay and happy.'_

_The door opened to reveal Hideo he slowly walked closer to Sara, taking a seat beside her bed. He looked at his niece softly, in one night he had lost his sister, his best friend and his other niece, and the one in front of him, though she was breathing, looked far from alive._

_He already knew how it feels to love someone you love and when he felt it the first time he was in his twenties, but Sara she was just a five year old._

_Just a few minutes ago did Lord Fumio leave his- Hideo's- hospital room after telling him that he –Hideo- was going to be Sara's guardian._

_It wasn't that he disliked Sara, but he thought he would be the last person capable of helping her. But right now He was all she had and she was all he had, also she was the living reminder of his sister and his best friend in almost everything, and she was the reminder of his lost love in name._

_"Sara" He called her name but she didn't respond "You can't stay like this forever, you have to accept it and move on, and that's what your parents would have wanted"_

_She still didn't respond, but then again he didn't expect her to. He knew well what it means to lose someone you love, and even though he just lost almost all of his loved ones he needed to be strong, for Sara and for his clan._

_"It's never easy to lose the people you love and I know it's even harder on you right now, you're just a five year old, just yesterday morning, you were laughing and you were happy beside your family, you didn't understand that the world wasn't always happy" He told her as he tried to get a reaction out of her "But with everything you still need to move on, if not for your sake than for your parents…" At that moment Sara flinched a bit "They gave up their lives so that you could live yours, when someone does that your life no longer become yours alone, you shouldn't let their death be a waste by staying like this"_

_Sara despite being quiet was thinking about his words, her parents did die for her to live and she was but also her brother wasn't dead the least she could do was get stronger and find him and save him._

_And wasn't what Orochimaru said was that Yoshio would be the perfect bait, which meant he will probably keep him alive to make sure he gets his hands on the clan's kekkei genkai._

_She was still lost and guilty but finding a purpose somewhat if only a fraction had stirred her as the blank look changed to one of determination._

_-End of flashback-_

**Sara Pov**

I was sitting still at the river bank, rubbing my eyes trying to stop the tears flowing down but I couldn't.

"Damn it!" I said out loud frustrated "Stop it! I don't want to cry! I can't cry I am ninja, I have to control my emotions!"

But they wouldn't stop so I settled to covering my face in my hands. That night was the reason behind everything, me straying away from my friends, losing my parents, my brother_, _Kohana losing her father. That night had ruined everything.

'Hideo sensei must have told them by now' I thought to myself 'It was all my fault and now because he failed to get me back then he's going after the source_, _Harming the entire village in the process. If only I had let him take me back then, everything would be alright. It's my entire fault. No! I can't think of that now, it was my chance I could finally save him, he can finally come home'

Determined I stood up washing my face in the river first before starting to head back.

**Hideo Pov**

Looking at everyone's face as I finished telling them what I knew of that day, I could tell what most of them were thinking, the jounins of course knew at least all but Kurenai since she was still a new jounin.

At the time, the clan elders thought it was best to keep the incident a secret, I understood why, if word came out three of the strongest shinobi the clan had were gone, two dead and one kidnapped than it was like sending a message that they were an easy target.

A lot of clans and villages would have jumped on the chance especially those who have heard of Heiwa.

Sara knew that but she didn't accept it, she didn't see the point in keeping a secret for so long even if she never managed to talk about it herself but she felt like her parents didn't really get the recognition they deserved.

While I did agree on some parts it didn't really matter the elders were quiet stubborn. Well, our clan was filled with stubborn people.

But on another notice when I saw Yoshio during the attack, it was like a slap to the face, never in his life did I think I and Yoshio would be on opposite sides.

If everyone loved Konoha and the clan it was Yoshio, not in a thousand years would I have thought Yoshio would betray them for Orochimaru.

And then when Sara came back and told him what she discovered, I believed her, if anyone had told me that I would have still believed it, it was a more valid reason than Yoshio betraying them.

Then of course came the problem of actually saving him, Sara was no good with seals, and I wasn't any better, if had to say it was something she inherited from both me and her mother. But she was resourceful but what she planned to do, it gave me the feeling that I just might end up with only one niece from my sister after Sara carries out her plan, I didn't like it.

But one thing I was certain of was that Sara was stubborn she was going to carry out her plan no matter what, I was just as stubborn, I was going to keep her alive.

When I looked at the room again everyone was still quiet, Kurenai was surprised to hear about it along with all of the genins, I can see that the Uchiha seemed the most quiet probably remembering his own incident. Sara's closest friends as a kid were Shikamaru Nara and Hinata Hyuuga and they were both looking down, frowning and Hinata herself looked close to tears.

"Hideo-sensei, why keep it a secret?" Haruna asked with a frown

"Something like that would have spread like wild fire, we would have heard something?" Uchiha questioned too.

"It was to protect our clan" I told them before explaining exactly.

"It wouldn't have endangered your clan because your clan was part of Konoha, attacking them like that would be like declaring war" Aburama stated "You were well protected"

"Yes but if they came undercover, they could slip in even they didn't manage to get something out of us they still could hurt and kill many of us" I explained.

"Sara, she just slipped away without saying anything or leaving a message at the time" Nara stated quietly "Why would she do something like that?"

I sighed 'I should have known this would come up'

"In her own sense, it was to protect you" I told them but their faces showed complete puzzlement "The day after the incident and for an entire week, Sara didn't utter a single word she was barely eating and barely moved, when she recovered enough to talk she still stayed silent when anyone asked her what happened when she had faced Orochimaru. We needed to know what exactly what had happened but our only witness was out of it every time we asked.

So to know what happened the IT department extracted the memory, we found out or like confirmed that clan was attacked because Orochimaru was after Sara, the only reason he killed her parents because they got in the way and he took Yoshio when he couldn't have her to make a bait for her. Sara blamed herself for all of it. She thought that she was endangering all of you by staying friends with you, she was afraid Orochimaru would target any of you to get to her."

Almost everyone was gasping as I finished explaining.

To say it she was a lot like me in dealing with loss, despite saying that she was doing to protect them, I think a part of her was doing to protect herself, just like I did once she didn't want to feel the pain of losing someone again, so she cut the ties herself.

"So what do we do now?" Asuma asked, he wasn't smoking which was a first but mostly I think he wasn't to be respectful "I don't think Sara would just let us hurt Yoshio"

I could sense her chakra as she came through the main door before showing at the door of the room we were in.

Everyone's eyes softened as they looked at her, it was obvious she had been crying.

**Sara Pov**

I stood there at the door; I had heard what Asuma had said, which meant sensei has yet to tell him everything.

Everyone's eyes were on me, but for maybe the first time in a while I just kept a straight emotionless face, a blank look as I took a seat at the corner so that I could be facing all of them.

"There's more to it" I told them "Today I wasn't surprised to hear that Yoshio was alive, because I ran into him during the invasion of Konoha."

"What-t?!" Manami questioned surprised and shocked but I wasn't sure if it was from hearing that there was an invasion or from the running into Yoshio.

I explained everything from my run in during the invasion till my fight with him when I was traveling with Naruto and Jiraya.

"You mean that cloaked guy was Yoshio-san?" Naruto questioned shocked as I just nodded "But he attacked you and hurt you"

"It was during our fight that I found out that he wasn't doing it by his own free will" I told them as I explained about the seal.

"A seal are you sure?" Kurenai questioned

"If you think about it, It should be expected from Orochimaru" Kakashi said, I wasn't sure if this was the first time he have heard about the seal or not.

"I came up with an idea to help him, to remove the seal he's not the enemy, he's being controlled" I tried to argue, there was just no way I would let anyone hurt Yoshio. "I know we can save him"

While the jounins seemed to be thinking, the genins just looked like they sympathized with me while Aki, Taka and Yumi seemed down but at same determined.

The jounins exchanged looks, before nodding to each other.

Hideo sensei was the one to talk "Looks like our mission just became a rescue too"

**PLS READ!**

**When i started wirting this story i never thought I would make it this far, I know this story wasn't so great at first but I want to improve it so to do so I have to ask you what did you enjoy the most and where do you think I failed? You know till me what you think should be improved? and what's pretty goof your opinion is highly appreciated!**


	40. Chapter 38

**Sara Pov**

I jumped over the roofs of the houses making my way to the town center, it was the next day and considering we just arrived yesterday we settled in for that night, but this morning we already had a patrol plan, and each of us was doing his part.

The plan was just a way for everyone to familiarize their selves with the village and its outskirts. We were divided to four main teams each team led by a jounin, at least one member capable of tracking and one who knew the village.

The first team led by Hideo-sensei and consisted of Shino-san, Ino-chan and Sasuke-kun; they were supposed to cover the south side.

The second team led by Kurenai-san and consisted of Hinata-chan, Choji-kun and Hiro-kun they were covering the west side of town.

The third team was led by Asuma-san and consisted of Shika-kun, Kiba-san and Yumi-chan, they covered the east side.

The fourth team led by Kakashi-san and consisted of Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun and Taka-kun, which caused lots of objection from the three; they were supposed to cover the north side of the village.

As for me I was sent to protect what we thought was their target the stone of heart, I think sensei told me to cover considering it would be away from the fighting at first.

I sighed as I continued on my way 'He's worried, I know but seriously, it's not like I can't fight' Remembering what he gave I pulled out the bottle of pills from my pouch and swallowed a pill from it.

-_Flashback-_

_"Here!" He said handing me the brown bottle "Tsunade-Sama gave them to me for you_; _She said you should take one every 10 hours. It should stop you from having an episode if your chakra spikes up but she wasn't sure if it would do the same if your chakra is low. So be careful"_

_-End of flashback-_

I sighed again as I landed in front of the stairway leading to the shrine where the stone was. The stairs were made of marble and were pretty wide but it didn't surround it entirely.

I started climbing the many stairs as I remembered the time I came here when I first tried to unlock the kekkei genkai for the first time.

'I was four back then'

_-Flashback-_

_"Come on you three" I said running ahead of them, through the streets._

_"Wait up, Sara-chan!" Yumi called as they tried to catch up._

_I finally stopped in front of the stairway waiting for them. When they reached me they bent over resting their hands on their knees to catch their breath._

_"Jeez! You guys are really slow" I told them with a sigh._

_"We're not slow; you're the one who's too fast." Taka-kun said between breathes._

_"Excuses, excuses!" I told them "Now let's get going!"_

_"Sometimes I wonder where she gets her stamina from" Hiro-kun said as I ran ahead of them up the stairs._

_The stair way it self were wide but didn't surround the entire shrine, at the front had a great wooden gate with the clan symbol itched into the middle of its upper area._

_When I made to the top I stopped to marvel at the marble grey shrine, no matter how many times I saw it, it never failed to amaze me._

_The shrine itself was unique in its own way; it was made of six marble pillars, with a dome above it, the dome with covered with a different designs, it was obvious the designs came together to tell a story._

_While it wasn't written, most people just assumed and interpreted the drawings to tell what the story said._

_It started from the symbol which afterwards became our clan symbol. The story itself went something like how at some point war bred between humans. Hatred, Cruelty, Sadness, and hopelessness were what existed the most. Afterwards a person, a warrior, found what love, kindness, happiness and hope meant, he found them in the woman he loved._

_But it didn't last long as his lover was killed in war, the warrior was broken so much that it hurt him to breath and thus lost his path, he became like most were but on an attack on a group, he discovered how he had lost himself, he had almost killed a woman when one of the men protected losing his life in the process._

_The way the woman cried on the fallen man, the same way he had cried for his lover. He understood how wrong he had been, how wrong the world around him is. He started trying to change it but realized that his efforts were useless._

_In a time where everyone was used to war, using words against them weren't going to change them._

_That when once again he changed, instead of talking he fought, but instead of killing he showed mercy. Being the strong warrior he is, people started to see his purpose and understand it and soon enough slowly but surely the world started to change. He had understood that neither pure darkness nor pure light that changed the world, but the balance between them._

_But people who felt as their powers were being challenged gathered to try and kill him and what small number of people that followed him._

_With the large numbers that faced them, the small army led by the warrior fought their hardest, but despite everything they were defeated for the simple fact that they didn't kill their enemies, the warrior seeing on the brink of his death didn't give up and kept fighting till his last breath._

_Afterwards for them it wasn't entirely a loss, the army had reunited with the people they lost, and the warrior had reunited with the woman he loved. All of them had accepted death as a part of life, seeing as they died protecting their beliefs they were at peace._

_The gods saw how the hearts of those men were strong; their hearts weren't that of darkness or of light but the balance between the two. Thus they decided to give a chance to those that will be born afterwards._

_Thus was the stone of heart created from the hearts of the men that thought peace and wanted to bring balance to the world. For the hope that what they gained will be accumulated with what the new generations will learn. Till another warrior rose, the one that will bring balance to the world. _

_"I think I might need to go to the hospital after this" Taka said as he lay on floor on his back trying to catch his breath._

_"I don't think I will live that long" Yumi said as she lay on the ground beside him on her stomach._

_"How are you guys planning to be ninjas, if just a run got you like this?" I questioned them rolling my eyes._

_"Mind you not all of us are prodigies" Hiro said sitting cross legged._

_"That's just a small detail" I said with a wave of my hand turning around and getting closer to the shrine. But stopping before I could enter the shrine itself, raising my hand I rested it against the barrier set around the shrine._

_The barrier was apparently self-sustained by the stone only permitting those who have unlocked the kekkei genkai to pass. Looking past from where I stood I observed the stone, it was like a star- shaped diamond, it didn't have a certain color but was a mix of gold and black. It hanged on a ring, the ring itself connecting to a stand on the ground. The symbol that was used for our clan and was on the shrine was like a drawing for it._

_"So…" Taka said as he stood beside me followed by Yumi and Hiro "What now?"_

_"Good question, we basically came here with no idea" Yumi commented, as I continued to stare at the stone trying to come up with anything._

_"Let's look at what we know, maybe we'll find something" Hiro suggested_

_"The problem is we know nothing" Taka shot back "All the scrolls were destroyed after all"_

_"That's not entirely true" I said turning to them "I mean we've been asking the elders they gave us some useful info"_

_"Right useful info! It was just a bunch of gibberish" He shot back_

_"You know a more positive attitude would help you" Yumi told him as I sighed muttering here they go again._

_"I am not a pessimist just realistic" he said_

_"Definitely what a pessimist would say" Yumi retorted but before Taka could reply Hiro interrupted us._

_"Back to the stone you two"_

_"Well what the elders said was that what they knew was to unlock the kekkei genkai, we had to somehow touch the stone and pass our chakra to it" I said thinking back_

_"The problem is that the barrier won't let anyone without the kekkei genkai to pass" Yumi said touching the barrier herself._

_"It can't be impossible after all people used to do it" Hiro commented_

_"Maybe we should bring a long stick and try to touch it with it" Taka teased "Face it! what the old guys said was just gibberish!"_

_"I think you just gave me an idea" I said_

_"Wow did you actually do something useful baka" Yumi teased_

_"Don't c-" He started but was stopped by Hiro placing his hand on his mouth._

_"So what's your idea?" Hiro asked_

_"We don't have to touch the stone directly as much as we need to pass our chakra to it" I told them "A stick wouldn't do but maybe a chakra string"_

_"So we won't be doing anytime soon" Hiro said sighing_

_"Huh?"_

_"Sara-chan, we barely know how to use our chakra even with your help, what you're saying is too advance for us" Yumi explained to me_

_"Yeah but we have to try" I pleaded_

_"We will when we have better control over our chakra" Hiro told me_

_"Yup after all we did make a promise to bring it back to our clan" Yumi said cheerfully_

_"Yeah, I am going to become the first clan leader to use it in a while" Taka boasted_

_"We'll be back for it, when we're ready" Hiro assured me_

_"Let's just go back home the sun is setting and mom is going to pretty mad if I am late" Taka said earning a nod from the other two._

_We all turned around to leave but at the stair way I stopped turning to look back at the stone before my face became a determined one._

_"Why don't you guys go ahead? I think I am going to stay here for a little longer" I told them._

_"You're sure?" Hiro asked_

_"Positive" I told them walking back to the stone" See you later"_

_"See you later Sara-chan" Yumi said as they walked away._

_"Now let's try this" I said to myself as I extended my hand, as a chakra string extended from my finger._

_My chakra control was okay but using a chakra string took a bit of an effort, and I wasn't used to using it so it only made it so far before disappearing, it didn't even make it half the way._

_"I think this might take a little while" I said to myself._

_It was later that night that I was on the ground panting, I still hadn't managed to reach the stone but I was progressing._

_"Chakra exhaustion wouldn't really help you" A voice said from behind me I turned my head to find Yoshio standing with crossed hands. "Mom wanted to come find you herself, but Dad restrained her, she's pretty mad"_

_"I just wanted to train, beside I am not that late" I explained._

_"Not that late huh?" He asked giving me a blank look "Do you realize what time is it?"_

_"Um...9 pm" I suggested_

_"It was 11 when I left the house" he told me sighing "You really need to start watching yourself"_

_I just rubbed the back of my neck and smiled sheepishly._

_"Let's go then before mom storms here" He told me picking me up in a piggy back, I hugged his neck._

_He started jumping over the roofs making his way to our home here._

_"You do realize we're staying here for an entire week, you don't have to push yourself in one night" He told me, but I just Yawned I didn't realize how tired I was._

_"Yeah, yeah" I replied as I slept on his shoulder._

_I did train the entire week though, Yumi, Taka and Hiro came with me and trained in the basic stuff beside, or just some time studied. We did take brakes in the middle and just played around._

_It was the night before our last in our visit that I kept sitting in front of the barrier. I was so close to achieving it, but I didn't know what was stopping me._

_I knew my chakra control was pretty good by now, and I was even able to use my chakra string easily. But when I tried passing through the barrier it was like my chakra was weighed down by something heavy._

_'I think I am missing something' I thought to myself 'passing your chakra through the stone with a string, is something anyone can come up with, anyone would have been able to achieve it then, but if this power only wanted only certain people to possess it, it would have another catch'_

_I was so lost in thought till someone picked me up by my collar._

_"You're late again" Mom said as she turned me around and sat me down, she had her arms crossed and I could see the vein on her head "Do you know what time it is?"_

_"Okay I am pretty sure it's not past ten this time" I said_

_"It's nine but close enough" She told me, before smiling "We're already late, but we're still going"_

_"Going where?" I asked confused._

_"You've been working on your chakra control since we came here right?" She asked ignoring my question, I nodded in response._

_"Good" She said with a closed eye smile "Than jump"_

_"eh?" I asked confused_

_"Use your chakra to enhance your jump, I wanna see how high you are going to make it" she explained_

_I gathered my chakra, and bent down then jumped with my chakra to enhance the strength of me pushing the ground._

_I black flipped and was about to jump on the dome, which was pretty high, but before I could touch the dome I was picked up by something._

_"Ahhhh" I shouted as what I landed on flew fast, but when I blinked for a second I saw I was on Satoshi's back "What the?"_

_"Well, you're chakra control really did improve, I thought Satoshi would have to fly down lower" Mom said as she was riding another eagle, Mi . She was mom's partner, from the look in their eyes I knew they were talking through the mind link._

_"Mom, where are we going?" I asked_

_"To meet Susumu-sama" She told me, I had never met Susumu, but according to mom, she was like the leader of the birds of mount Seinaru sukai, also she was very strong and didn't talk to humans very often. Despite everything though mom was the first one to convince her to let her sign a summoning contract with the birds of the mountain._

_Mom told me that after a test from Susumu-sama that she passed, on three conditions, one was that she would be limited to a certain flock that will be picked by Susumu-Sama herself._

_Two, She would have one partner among them, that one she would have her mind connected to._

_Three, she was never allowed to let anyone sign the summoning scroll, if she thought someone was worthy, she would bring them to Susumu to be testes._

_It was the last condition that got me thinking that mom might think I was worthy enough to sign the contract._

_It didn't take us long to arrive at the cave hidden the mountains, we landed their all four of us but only mom and I went in._

_I thought mom would call out for someone but she just stood there, looking into the darkness of the cave._

_"You're late" Came and old raspy voice from the cave_

_"We're sorry Susumu-sama" Mom apologized, and soon enough I saw the owner of the voice I had to say I was pretty disappointed._

_From the darkness emerged an old lady with a hunched back, 'Not what I expected, she doesn't seem strong' I thought to myself 'And she's human just like us how is she even the leader of the birds of mount Seinaru sukai'_

_"I thought that you shinobi were taught the transformation jutsu" She told me looking at me, that's when I realized she was also blind "beside I think my old appearance would help us have a conversation"_

_'She couldn't have…'_

_"But you see I did" She finished my unspoken thought making my eyes widen, while she just chuckled "You see child I have many powers"_

_She then turned to mom "Katsumi my dear, do you really think she's worthy?"_

_"Yes I do" Mom answered_

_"Even if she wasn't your daughter?"_

_"She exhausts herself, really doesn't know how to obey curfew, always got me worried about her with her running around everywhere, her curiosity always lays her in trouble. But she's hardworking, determined and never gives up, she also values her friends and she always helps other, I think the reason I didn't bring her sooner was because she is my daughter, but seeing how hard she worked this week helped me set my mind on bringing her here, knowing she'll make me proud"_

_I couldn't really help but blush at the praise, especially since despite how worried I made her she still praised me._

_"I see" Susumu-sama said before turning to me "I know just the test for you, I am going to give you a certain task you have to complete it and I will even give you three years, got that?"_

_"Hai" I replied nodding_

_"Your task is to acquire the kekkei genkai of your clan" She told me simply "This task will test you in more ways than one, it will show me if you're worthy to sign a contract, if you fail though don't bother coming here again"_

_I wasn't sure how to react, I turned to see mom frowning at what was said._

_"I think that will be it, for tonight you better get going then" Susumu-sama said turning around and going back inside the cave._

_We left that night and went back home the next day despite that I kept trying I couldn't do it, so for that summer I said goodbye to my friends and went back home._

_That same summer back home at Konoha a little while after we came back that maybe for the first time I felt what it means to lose someone you care about._

_My grandfather always had a tough relationship with Dad which resulted in him having a tough relationship with both me and Yoshio._

_Grandma on the other hand was someone we care about deeply, she was always kind and friendly and happy, and that summer she died of old age._

_Maybe the only reason I didn't react as badly as I reacted after the incident was that I had my family with me, I wasn't alone._

_The summer of the next year, a few month before the incident we went back to the village and in my heart I knew I had found out the secret to doing it and I found out the answer to what was stopping me._

_In a way If Yumi, Hiro or Taka had better chakra control they would have unlocked the kekkei genkai before me._

_Hiro had never knew his parents, originally they were Konoha shinobi but they died during the nine tails attack while he was just a few month old, his mother's sister lived back in Heiwa so he was sent to her._

_Taka had lost his mother when he was three she had a weak health and she died of illness._

_Yumi had both her parents but while her father was a Hiroshi her mother wasn't from the clan. They still were allowed to live in the village of course but while it was still uncommon for it happen. Yumi was actually born with Red hair like her mother but before we knew her Kids used to bully her all the time because of it that's why she dyed it black so that she would fit in. It didn't stop the bullying but that was around when we met her and we stood up for her._

_I knew both Taka's and Hiro's pain now because even if you have people that care about you losing your parents always leaves an empty place in your heart._

_Yumi also felt loneliness even if it was in a different way having no friends is something hard. Loneliness, losing people you care about almost always results in darkness in your heart, when I lost grandma I realized the answer what I was missing._

_When the warrior had started being acknowledged by people even his enemies started seeing him as a threat after he had known light and darkness, happiness and sadness. That was what I was missing; I always had the people I care about around me, when I lost grandma it was when I first knew sadness._

_-End of flashback-_


	41. Chapter 39

**Kakashi Pov**

'I wasn't sure why I those two were placed together or why I was the one who ended up being the leader of their team but those two were really getting on my nerves' I thought as I tried to ignore the bickering coming from the two behind me.

We were making our way to the north side of the village and while Takao and Naruto kept throwing insults at each other. 'I swear if we weren't moving they probably would be swinging fists at each other by now'

One thing I noticed clearly as we jumped from roof to roof was really how empty the streets were. There were only a few passers that could be easily counted on one hand; most of the houses had their windows closed as well as the doors. 'Everyone is pretty scared from the attacks; after all they're not used to any fighting'

"COULD YOU TWO SHUT UP!" Sakura bellowed at the two with veins on her head.

"I would if the baka would stop" Naruto replied.

"Don't you call me a baka, brat!" Takao retorted but they didn't really get any more chances as Sakura stopped turned around and hit them both on the head.

"ow!" Takao said holding his head "she's even stronger than Yumi-chan"

"You have no idea how strong she is" Naruto told him clutching his own head.

I was more focused on the scene in front of me, we were almost at the edge of the village but from this point most of the houses were destroyed, had scorch marks, or were completely burned down.

"This place…" Sakura whispered as noticed the scene.

"That's what happened during the second attack" Takao explained I noticed he clenched his hand while speaking. "This where most of the attackers came from, if it weren't for the birds of the mountain we would probably have had lots of fatalities."

"Orochimaru! That guy has to pay for what he did!" Naruto said angrily clenching his fists.

"We'll make sure this village is peaceful again in not time you three so let's get going" I told them as I jumped off the roof.

**Yumiko Pov**

"Kiba, smell anything?" Asuma-san questioned as he turned to Kiba who shook her head. Asuma sighed in return as he held his cigarette in his hand.

"Since right now we've got nothing; Yumiko why don't you tell us again what happened during the attack" he told me.

"The first attack was over quickly, no one was hurt in that one I guess it was more of them scouting than attacking." I spoke quietly and timidly "The second one that was when hell broke loose, they came from the northern side in big numbers, they started by attacking and burning the houses on that side." I told them as the events of that day played in my head.

"We immediately went there we tried to fight as hard as we could, but the three of us were no match for them we needed all three of us to take down at least one of them" I continued "If it weren't for The birds of the mountain coming at the right time everyone who was in that area would probably be dead.

They used water jutsus to put down the fire and other type of jutsu t chase out the enemy while the three of us tried to get the people out of that area and helped them from the houses. It was in the middle of everything that one of the flock noticed that there were two ninjas at the stone.

By the time we made it to the stone they were gone probably found out that they can't get their hands on it just like that and from the looks of it they came from the south side"

"What do you mean they can't easily get the stone?" Shikamaru asked

"There's a barrier protecting the stone, if you haven't unlocked our kekkei genkai you can't get past it" I explained. "The barrier itself is something like a test to actually get your kekkei genkai you have to find a way to touch the stone while you can't pass it"

"It's obvious that the first attack was just a scouting mission" Asuma-san said his cigarette in his mouth and his shin in his hand "Kakashi and Hideo are handling the two sides from where the last attack happened"

"The south side is where we came from right?" Shikamaru asked to which I nodded "It's a complete open area you could easily see an enemy coming from that side, this sides is mostly forests, what about the other sides?"

"The north side is just a mountain, while the west is a forest than a mountain at the back of it" I told him

"What you thinking Shikamaru?" Kiba asked as he rested his hands behind his head, Akamaru on his head.

"If they're watching us right now they're probably on this side or on the west side" He told us "The mountain side was the side from where they attacked from before, it would be dangerous to watch from an area that is obviously considered a danger area and most of the people would be gone from there" he looked at me at his last sentence to which I nodded in confirmation.

"And like you said the south side is an open area, they can't put any watch from there" Asuma-san said

"Unless they have someone with the byakugan or a way to see for a very long distance they could be hiding in the forest further away" Shikamaru added

"So…what do we do?" Kiba asked grinning confused, I have to say I was confused myself.

The other two sighed.

"We need to check this area they could have found to cover their smells and they could be easily hiding their chakras" Asuma-san told us "We're going to split up the three of you are going to cover 3km radius in that one direction while I cover the same on the other side you done we meet up here again got it?" We all nodded saying Hai "then let's get going you see anyone you slowly get away don't fight"

We jumped into the trees the three of us in one direction while Asuma-san in the other.

"You know you were talking a bit too quiet for how you were acting yesterday" Kiba noted

"Well I'm not that good around people" I said feeling my face heat up

"Without your friends" Shikamaru added making me heat up even more before nodding

"You're pretty cute when you blush you know" Kiba said with a grin while Akamaru nodded and I felt my face heat up even more I probably looked like a tomato.

**Akihiro Pov**

Hinata shook her head as she stopped using her Byakugan.

"No one's around in this part too" She told us stuttering a bit. It was just the three of us right now. We had split up earlier to cover more grounds Kurenai-san went in one direction and we went in the other, we decided to check the as much as we could and be back in an hour, we still had at least a quarter of an hour.

"Let's head back" I told the two "we have just enough time to do that" we have been moving from area to area and Hinata used her byakugan to try if there was anyone around but we had no luck, but we were moving quickly, we had only a small part remaining in the forest before we would hit the mountain side.

Hinata looked down as she nodded.

"Don't look so down Hinata, we'll find them eventually" Choji tried to cheer her up

"You know he's right" I told her as we started moving "We're able to cover so much distance thanks to you"

"Thank you, Choji-kun, Akihiro-kun" She told us quietly stuttering a bit.

I couldn't really believe this was Sara's childhood friend, she used to tell us about her whenever we came together but Hinata was the exact opposite of how Sara was back then, I couldn't believe there was someone even shier than Yumi out there.

I knew that both of Choji and Hinata were childhood friends of Sara, on the other hand I wasn't surprised they didn't know about us, after all Sara wasn't allowed to talk about the village, no one was.

"Say Akihiro-san; about Yoshio-san was he really someone that would betray his family?" Choji asked "I mean I didn't know him well and Sara seemed so hurt from it"

"Not a chance, Yoshio he cared about Sara more than anything from what I remember if it was for example her birthday and he was given a mission he would finish it up in a record time just to come back on time. He always protected her and helped her" I told them "Yoshio betraying his family is like expecting the sun to not come up the next day"

I know what Sara said was true not a chance did Yoshio betray everyone like that, to me when I only had my aunt he became my big brother, he cared for me and slowly he, Sara, Yumi and Taka helped fill the hole of having no parents.

"There is no chance Yoshio is with the enemy by his free will" I said as we kept moving.

**Hiroshi Pov**

"But what's the point in guarding a place like this?" Ino questioned as we stood on the south side of the village.

"Because they said that this is the direction they came from in the last attack" Shino explained but she still frowned.

"Yeah but" She objected "Why would they do same thing twice? It would be too obvious, wouldn't it?"

"Probably" I told her "But if they thought the same way then will think of how we react to it and will still consider this a place that they can use to get access to the village, in a best case scenario they would think this at least would be the least guarded part"

While talking I was trying to see if I could sense any chakra signs around but with no luck. Most of the genins that came with us came from different clans to some extent I knew what skills they may have that was how I divided the teams based on.

"Shino, send your insects to scout the area ahead" I ordered him with a simple nod he raised his hands in front of him as the insects moved from his sleeves to the area in front of us.

While Sasuke looked indifferent, Ino cringed.

I still tried to sense for any chakra presence while looking ahead.

"Sasuke and I will go ahead to scout the area too" I told them "You wait here, if anything happens send your insects"

They nodded as Sasuke and I started running towards the forest.

"Don't use your sharingan unless it's absolutely necessarily" I instructed "And try not to wander off"

I knew that Orochimaru wanted the boy, so we had to keep him safe as much as Sara. That's was why I put him on this side with me, while there was a chance they would attack from here it was highly unlikely thus the safes place for him. Also somehow protecting the last Uchiha member was important to me considering he came from the same clan as….

I sighed as I remembered her.

**Sara Pov**

"This is not working" I shouted frustrated as I folded my hands on my chests and stomped on the ground.

I had thought of an idea to locate the enemy from here but so far I wasn't able to do it, I think mostly because of my currently bad chakra and stombed all to m important to me cosidering attack from here it was highly unlikely thus the s

I sighed frustrated 'Yami, What do you think?' I thought in my head trying to get her to talk for some reason ever since we came she's been pretty quiet.

'Figure it out yourself' She replied causing me to almost pop a vein.

Before I could reply though, I sensed someone climbing the shrine stairs. I turned around Just as Manami came up the last stair.

"Hey" She greeted with a closed eye smile.

"Hi?" I replied a bit confused to what she was doing here. Giving the circumstances she shouldn't be walking around like that with the possibility of an enemy around, that and a lot of our clan no longer visit the shrine. "Um, not to be rude but what are you doing here?"

"Just came to check on you" She replied with a grin, but I saw something in it, it was fake. 'So she's either an enemy in disguise or something is up'

It was most likely the second option though considering her chakra was Manami's.

She sighed dropping her smile and turning serious.

"No point beating around the bush huh?" She said as she came closer "Uncle told me about your condition"

I froze as she said that 'Why would sensei…'

"He thought it was better if a medical ninja around here knew in case of anything" She explained to me. Even though it was a good reason I still wasn't happy about it. "Another thing he told me was that Tsunade-sama told the other jounins on this mission" At this point I was gabbing at her.

'Come on!' I thought 'Is it so hard to keep a secret?'

"Uncle said she did so that they should know you're not able fight to the best of your ability" She explained again as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"Of course" I said mad while I knew what she did was I still thought she could've at least told me or asked me.

"Come on let's sit down" She said pulling me over to the edge, we both sat down our legs dangling over the edge.

From here- which is the highest structure in the village- we had quite the view of this side of the village. I frowned at it though while the view was great; it wasn't the one I was used to at this time of day. The streets were empty, the windows shut tight and the shops closed.

"You know he just worries about you" She told me "After all; to him you're almost like a daughter more than a niece or a student"

"I know" I told her with a sad smile "That's what gets me upset. I wish if he didn't care about that me that much, I wish that he and everybody could just forget about me. I don't want to hurt anybody when I am gone"

"You shouldn't wish for something like that" She told me "The bonds we have with other are what keeps us going whether they're here or not. You should know that just like I do. Even though losing people we care about hurts, I know you would never wish to forget your parents, like I would never wish I would forget my mom.

Because even though they're gone physically, they still live inside every one of us as long as we remember them"

"Yeah but it still hurts" I said with a frown

"It takes sadness to know happiness" She told me and I turned my head to look at her tugging my hair behind my ear, just as a light gale passed "You can't have a rainbow without a little rain" (AN: I know stolen and cliché but I like it)

"Besides you are going to be alright" She told me smiling "Tsunade-sama is very well known for her medical ninjutsu and our clan is known for our stubbornness. There is no way you will go down like that" She was smiling as she told me.

"I hope so" I told her "I really do"

"Will I want to ask you something?" She asked turning to me raising her hand "Mind If I check?"

I shook my head and her hand glowed green. I removed my headband and she placed her hand on my forehead.

Manami was always like a big sister to me, she was a warm and kind person, and she always knew what to say and always gave great advice.

She retreated her hand just and I tied my headband again.

"You know I was thinking right before everything happened of moving to Konoha" She told me "After I heard Tsunade-sama became the new Hokage, I wanted to go there and learn from her. After all she's pretty much my idol and becoming a great medical ninja has always been my dream"

I smiled as I saw her talk with so much passion about what she wanted to do.

"I just thought of something" I said and turned to her with urgency "Manami you think you could help me with my chakra control?"

She frowned and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Why would you need help with it?" She asked confused "I mean you pretty much mastered it while you were still five"

"I wouldn't say mastered it but anyway well because of my tumor it's all messed up" I explained but she still looked confused.

"There's no way that's right I just checked it, it shouldn't be affecting your chakra control" She told me crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"But Tsunade-sama said it did" I told her

"What were her words exactly?" She asked me.

I thought for a bit before replying.

"The tumor is in the part of your brain which controls your chakra system. So when you're chakra flares too high, or is too low it affects your tumor. It also had been affecting your chakra system itself; it's messing it up and making even the slightest usage, drain you out" I recited Tsunade's words to her word by word.

"That explains it" She said "You misunderstood her; the tumor is affecting your chakra system but not your control. In a way it's just makes using chakra take up much more of your stamina"

"But how? I mean my chakra control has gotten pretty bad, I'm pretty sure it's not because of the lack of training." I told her and she gave me a sad smile.

"Let's review the basics shall we?" She told me "Chakra is the mix of physical energy and spiritual energy, while your physical energy comes from your body, your spiritual energy comes from your mind."

I still wasn't seeing the point and was a bit confused as to why she was telling me things I already knew.

"Sara, when it comes to your mind how has it been?" She asked me "With knowing about your tumor and that you were dying, to finding out Yoshio's alive, to trying to save him and whatever else the ninja life have been causing to you" At the last sentence I thought of the attack on Konoha and the Hokage dying. "To having to come here to try and help the village."

Her eyes softened even more.

"What's causing your bad chakra control isn't the tumor; it's your own mind. With everything happening your mind and emotions are a mess and trying to keep your illness from everyone isn't helping it" She explained "What you need is to put your mind in order and deal with your emotions instead of just ignoring them and trying to pretend to be okay"

Even if I didn't like it, I knew what she was saying was true, in the end I was hurting myself almost as much as the tumor was hurting me.


	42. Chapter 40

**Shikamaru Pov**

'What a drag!' I thought jumping from one tree to another, beside me was Kiba and Yumiko and so far we had nothing.

This was almost our third time into the forest; it was drill for us to finish covering a certain distance before meeting up with Asuma again and then repeat.

Considering so far we didn't manage to get any results I just wanted to lay down. Soon enough though we jumped down from the last trees into the end of the forest.

"I though you said this was only a forest area followed by the mountains?" Kiba questioned.

While we could see the mountain up ahead in a distance this area mostly though was houses and farms, with a river passing on the side from another part from the forest. It passed beside the houses with waterwheels beside them.

"Oops" She muttered scratching the back of her head "I forget, this is just our farming area I mean we have to get our food from somewhere."

"It does not look so lively" I told her

"Most of the farmers are back at the village, they didn't feel safe staying here alone" She explained.

"Troublesome woman" I muttered "We should head back and tell Asuma" there was a chance that this could be their hiding place. If it was we could get in a fight which we were not ready for.

**Sara Pov**

It was almost sun down, as my eye brows twitched again at the silence around me.

I opened my closed eyes huffing in the process, as I sat normally instead of cross legged and let my legs dangle from the side.

After the conversation with Manami I started trying to meditate but of course every time I closed my eyes I couldn't empty my mind and concentrate.

'You know you're being an idiot' Yami said in my mind

'She said that my mind and emotions were behind this so I am trying to solve it' I told her 'If I could just meditate'

'You had been at it for hours now and you have gotten nowhere. You know that what you are doing is not the answer' She told me finishing her sentence quietly.

I didn't reply, I just stayed quiet watching the sunset, I knew that what I was doing was not the answer but the alternative was dealing with them and doing that at this time wasn't possible.

I clenched my fists.

'If I face everything there is a chance I would probably break down and right now is the worst time for that, I already cried enough on this mission.' I told her 'I can't let my emotions get in the way of saving the village and my brother.'

'Suit yourself' She retorted and going back to her silence I just sighed.

'I can't lose this chance not again'

'Um…Sara!' Sadao thought to me just afterwards 'we are coming over now'

'We?' I questioned

'Yes me, Ume and Raiden' He told me and my eyes widened but that was the only reaction I got time to do.

"Saraaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Just as he told me two voices screeched from the sky behind me.

I was thrown to the ground by the two bodies.

"We missed you so much" The two voices shouted as they were on top of me, not realizing that they had basically attacked me.

"Hey could you get off me?" That's was what I tried to say at least but it came out muffled and incoherent.

"I think you might kill her if you don't get off now" Sadao told them and thus after a couple of seconds of them processing it the got off me apologizing.

"It's okay!" I said with a sigh sitting up. Examining them I noticed how much they've grown both of them after all when I first met those two they were barely 1 month old.

Ume and Raiden were both Falcons, Ume had greyish head feathers with blue-gray wings , dark brown back and blue eyes, Raiden looked almost the same except for having a white face with a black tear stripe on his cheeks and Amber eyes.

"It's good to see you two again" I told them with a closed eye smile.

"I can't believe that in seven years you didn't even think of summoning us" Ume complained with a huff.

"Come on you guys give me a break, when I first met you; you were barely out of the egg" I told them.

"Yeah right" Raiden said with a scoff before turning to me again "You won't believe how strong and fast we're now"

"Yup I think we might be able to out fly Sadao now" Ume said with a grin.

"I guess we'll have to test that theory sometime, won't we?" I told her with a smile.

I just didn't know how much they were going to take my words to heart.

They both look at each other with a knowing smirk, almost like they are talking in their minds.

The next I know it I was in the air holding to Raiden for my life, I couldn't even open my eyes.

"Slow downnnnnnnnnnnn!" I screamed to him as he continued to fly up wards at a huge speed.

"You haven't seen anything yet" He said as he flew even faster. "Let go!"

"Are you nuts?" I asked him, he was still flying upwards.

"Just trust us" He retorted.

I gulped, my eyes still closed.

'I probably lost my mind' I thought to myself as I let go of Raiden.

I screamed as I fell down but it barely lasted a minute before I was on another feathered back.

"Hearing you scream; you would think you never flew before" Ume said with a chuckle, I could feel the wind hitting my face which meant we were rising again and at a great speed too.

But after a few seconds, we stopped moving or more like rising I think.

"You should open your eyes" She told me cheerfully "I am pretty sure you would like the scenery"

Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened my eyes just to gasp at the beautiful scene in front of me. It was really breathtaking, the sun set in the background of it, with its rays falling on the ocean water making it sparkle like diamonds. Even with the empty streets instead of the look of being haunted the village looked beautiful almost peaceful, what added to the scene was the flocks of birds flying above us and beneath us but at a distance from us.

"It's beautiful" I said or more like whispered almost afraid to break the serenity around us, or if I spoke louder than a whisper the scene will disappear.

"Ready to dive again?" She asked but she didn't wait for a reply though, she just started diving towards the village again head first.

I screamed but not in fear like before more like in excitement.

When we broke through a cloud passing by, I didn't wait for her to tell me to jump. I was falling through the air at an incredible speed head first.

Before I even reached the roof level of the village houses, I was flying up again on Raiden's back.

"You guys really know how to cheer me up" I told them with a smile when we were back at the shrine. I was sitting cross legged resting against one of the pillars.

"We have always wanted to do that ever since we saw you do it back then" Ume said cheerfully.

I knew exactly what she was saying after I managed to pass the test and sign the contract, I got to meet my flock. The problem back then is in exception of Satoshi, they were all barely a month old, thus most of them were still incapable of flying.

Thus Mom had me train with her own flock, when it came to learning to hold myself at high speed I trained with Ume's and Raiden's parents, Kin and Kyou. It was what we just did except more complicated and involved me falling even more.

"That smile suites you even more" Raiden said.

"Yup" Ume agreed "Your fake smile does not compare to this one at all" I looked at her confused.

"When we came a few minutes ago, you looked like you were forcing yourself to smile just for us" Raiden explained "But this smile makes you look even more beautiful, guys will definitely drop dead for that smile" He finished with a wink making me blush.

"Wh-a-tt?" I stuttered blushing.

"It suits you that much Sara" Ume agreed "As much as flirt Raiden is, he doesn't tend to lie."

"How about we show her what we also learned?" Raiden suggested to Ume and she nodded. "Ready? Transform!" He said and the next I know it there was a puff of smoke but when it dispersed I wasn't expecting what I saw.

Instead of two Falcons there was two teenage kids that looked 16 or 17 in their places.

"So what do you think?" The female asked with Ume's voice and a grin, she had Blue hair, with only her side bang silver in color, and it reached all the way to her knees. Her eyes with also the same Nordic blue from before.

Raiden had shoulder length silver hair, the black tear stripe from before on his cheeks and the same Amber eyes. Both of them had Fair skin.

I had to say both of them were beautiful and gorgeous, I was pretty sure they would have fan girls and boys with those looks.

"So you two spent time learning how to transform into humans instead of learning battle jutsus?" Sadao asked as he sat on my head.

"Yup" The both answered cheerfully making both Sadao and I stare at them.

"Any way before the interruption of those two" Sadao started saying to me "Lady Susumu sent us to tell you that the flocks will handle the village watch from sunset, so you and everyone can rest"

"So that's why there was so many of them flying earlier up there" I said thoughtfully "We just need to tell everyone that"

"Already on it, Ichiro, Miyuki and Kei went to three of them and Satoshi went to Hideo" He told me and I nodded.

"Good I guess then I…" I started but was interrupted by Sadao.

"You're going to go rest too" He said sharply "You need to rest"

"I am fine"

"No you're not"

"Are we missing something?" Ume and Raiden asked at the same time.

"Nothing Sadao is just being stubborn" I told them shaking my head.

"You're the one being stubborn, I know you've been training all morning" He told me "We share a mind link you know. You shouldn't over exert yourself"

"But…"

"No, if you don't go back I will tell Hideo and Manami" He finished and I narrowed my eyes and huffed in annoyance muttering "Fine"

"Is that a normal relationship between partners?" I heard Ume ask Raiden, who just shrugged.

"What took you so long?" Naruto asked as soon as I entered the living room, everyone was already there setting in a circle.

"I just had some sky diving to do" I said and they all looked at me confused "It's nothing"

"Ok then we just talked about what we all found out" Sensei explained "which really isn't much"

"Sadly so even the farmers' houses were completely deserted" Asuma said with his smoke in his hands, I was thankful that the balcony door was open. "But hiding there would be too obvious"

"The outskirts of the town didn't even have any sign of surveillance either" Kurenai added

"Me and Akamaru didn't smell even a faint trace of anyone leading back into the forest recently" Kiba said

"They don't know" Aki said thoughtfully causing everyone to look at him, he was holding his shin in his hand. "Last time they probably made it to the barrier around the stone, since Yoshio is with them, they probably tried to have him pass through the barrier but the failed at doing so. If they're waiting right now is probably because they don't know that the three of us also have the kekkei genkai, they're stuck"

"That's probable, if they knew they wouldn't hesitate to go after the three of you" Kakashi said "But the question is what they're waiting for?"

'Could they…?'

"When did you see Yoshio?" I asked them urgently

"Huh?" Yumi said confused

"Was it during the attack or after it?" I asked

"After it, same day but after the attack by a couple of hours at least" Taka answered confirming my thoughts.

"So that's their plan" Sensei said looking at me and catching on

"But even that's not a certain plan" Kakashi commented catching on too

"Uh? What are you guys saying?" Naruto questioned and most of the genins looked confused except for Shika and Sasuke who looked to have caught on too.

"It's a 50-50 chance" Asuma said "It could have gone both way, if they hadn't even sent the letter before the second attack they would have failed"

"Come on what are you saying?" Kiba questioned.

"They need someone with Kekkei genkai to pass thorough the barrier, their first plan was obviously to try and have Yoshio unlock it" I explained "That obviously failed"

"While they don't know about those three having the kekkei genkai" Hideo-sensei continued "The only one that is known for having it is Sara"

"So they're after Sara?!" Sakura asked with a gasp.

"Most likely" I told her "Which means they probably have an eye on the place maybe they're even using a different way like us"

"So it's a good thing that you weren't outside the village today" Kurenai said

"But if our assumptions are right we know how to draw them out" Kakashi said

"Yeah using me as bait is the best way" I said

"What?!" Naruto asked shouting "But that's dangerous"

"He's right" Sakura agreed "Isn't Orochimaru the one who killed the third Hokage? Won't it be dangerous to have Sara play bait?"

"We can't just let her do it" Yuki agreed "There have to be another way!"

While I appreciated every one's concern, I was ready to do it even if I was risking my life. I looked towards sensei who was deep in thought, as mission leader the best course of action would be to use me as bait, but even with precautions it was still a risk. As my sensei and uncle I knew he didn't want to do it.

"Quiet down Naruto" Kakashi told him sternly but Naruto kept on talking.

"Sensei you taught us that those who break the rules are scum but those who abandon their friends are worth than scum" Naruto said "Putting Sara at this is like just abandoning her, we can't do it"

"It's okay Naruto" I told him with the best smile I could muster "I am ready to do it, actually I want to do it"

"But…" He tried to object but I continued as I looked down making sure my bangs shielded my eyes.

"Naruto! I am a shinobi, we all are risking our lives is just a part of who we are." I told him sternly.

"We will have to come up with a plan first before doing anything" Sensei told us "Even if we do what you want without the proper plan, it will be just a waste, so for now we stick to the surveillance plan at the very least this will help everyone familiarize themselves with the area around, understood?"

Everyone replied affirmatively.


	43. Chapter 41

**Sara Pov**

Surprise, nostalgia, happiness, sadness…There was many emotions that I felt at that moment as I stared at the house Manami had taken us to after the meeting. She had told us that they had finally readied a place for us to stay instead of being crammed into two rooms like the last night.

And here we were at the mentioned place, my place, the place that once belonged to my family. Technically it still does, but I haven't been here in years to see it again…it just was really nostalgic.

"Here you go" Manami told me pushing something into my hands "Dad lent it to me and now I am returning it to its rightful owner"

"I don't know what to say" I told her still staring at her with wide eyes before smiling "Thank you"

"It was nothing" She replied.

I looked ahead to find the door open and everyone were at the door or already ran inside checking the place.

"Looks like I forgot to lock it" Manami said chuckling and rubbing the back of her head "I kind of have a bad habit of doing that"

'I am going to get you back Yoshio and then we will be both laughing and having fun together like back then' I thought to myself as I held the key tightly.

"Wow the view is beautiful" Sakura said from the balcony. The house had 4 bedrooms the girls got a room, the boys were got another, the male jounins in third leaving only Kurenai with a room for herself.

We were all now changed into pajamas and ready to go to bed.

"You're right Sakura" Agreed Ino as she walked into the balcony too soon both Hinata and I followed.

"Clouds rarely gather over the island so the view here is much clearer than back home" I told them "There was a bedtime story that mom always told me about that"

"Really-y?! Can you tell us?" Hinata wondered.

"Are you sure? I am not much of a story teller." I told them.

"Yeah give it a go" Sakura encouraged.

"um well it started like how the sky is always clear around here because the stone of heart senses the calmness and goodness in the heart of the villagers, but it wasn't always like that at one point when they first arrived at the island it was always cloudy and raining and thunder was always occurring.

It almost seemed as this place was rejecting them but it was actually rejecting the darkness they carried in their hearts. That of revenge, sadness, worry and all the other negative feeling that resulted from all the fighting the clan has escaped.

A while after the clan had settled here things began to calm down, clouds dispersed, and the sun shone in the morning and the stars glittered at night. The people here began to know peace and so did the sky. But…."

I didn't get to finish before we heard thunder strike.

"What the…?" Ino wondered as the once clear sky started to fill up with clouds with thunder striking. "I don't think this is natural"

"It's not" I told her, there was something in the air something bad is going to happen. "Something bad is happening, we better get ready"

We all went back to change and put on our ninja gear, I was the fastest of them to get ready.

Before they all could get ready though we heard the first scream followed by more coming from all directions, and through balcony I could see the night darkness being lit by an orange light.

I jumped from the balcony to the roof to get a clearer view and my eyes widened at what I saw.

Buildings were on fire in every direction. 'Just like that night' I thought to myself, my hands clenching beside me 'I won't let my home be destroyed again, I am not going to let anyone harm my clan again'

"Sara come down it's dangerous with all the lightening" Ino shouted from the balcony.

"Ino tell everyone I went ahead okay?" I shouted back not awaiting a reply, I jumped forward. Making clones so I can cover more area.

**Kurenai Pov**

I was ready in a few minutes after I sensed something was off. I made my ways to the girl's room.

"Girls get up, you need to get…" I said as I opened the door only to find them already getting ready "…ready"

"Guys Sara just went ahead on her own" Ino said as she entered the room from the balcony.

"Of course she is" A voice said from behind me, I turned to find Hideo holding the bridge of his nose. "Kurenai, Kakashi and Asuma are waking up the boys, I will go catch up to her before she gets herself killed"

**Sara Pov**

Underlings were the only ones here. Weak ones but they did have the advantage of the number. It was almost like an army making me wonder, how long has Orochimaru and his men really been here before they decided to attack.

'They're looking for you' Yami told me

'I know' I replied as I managed to hit another one, basically right now I was the gates after I set my clones to different directions to help the citizens get away, I was buying time.

'I mean they're looking for you now, that's why only the weak ones are attacking' She said 'The leaders and your brother will probably only come when they're sure of your location'

'I know that's why I am here at the gates, at least the real me is. It's an open area here, so I can easily see them coming' I told her 'that's also one of the reasons I made sure my clones can be easily determined as clones'

'BEHIND YOU!' Yami shouted

I turned around only for the one attacking to be pushed away by a mini tornado.

"Idiot!" Sadao said as he continued to fight, I could see many of the birds surrounding the sky all over the village fighting probably "what are you doing here by yourself?"

"You know the usual" I told him casually as I continued fighting, trying to waste as less as possible from my energy I still needed to save Yoshio "kicking ass, fighting, having fun"

I was hit on the head, an all familiar hit.

"Sara you're really an idiot" Sensei said as he helped me fight after hitting me on the head "If it weren't for Satoshi bringing me here"

"Looks like there's an agreement that I am an idiot" I said as I caught Satoshi, Shou and Daichi fighting on one side beside us at the gates. Ume and Raiden were fighting beside Sadao. "So everyone else?"

"Probably on their way" he replied as we continued to fight.

We continued to fight for a few more minutes before I heard the all familiar voice of Naruto.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" He shouted and soon enough we were surrounded by hundreds of Naruto.

"You two okay?" Kakashi asked as he jumped beside us, we both nodded, Naruto's clones were handling the enemy now. Sakura and Sasuke were soon beside him "we figured since the enemy were after Sara, it was best to have two jounins here, so Pakun did the trailing"

"They probably are going to come out soon enough" Sensei said, and for some reason I felt like they already have.


	44. Chapter 42

**Third Pov**

The sky thundered as the houses flamed in the dark night sound of clashing kunai could be heard along the screams of citizens and the cries of children. The village was in complete chaos.

The enemy ninjas that attacked weren't very strong but they did have the advantage of the number, though they were divided on the four sides of the village they still managed to outnumber what ninjas tried to defend the village.

Those that tried to protect it though were mostly the fourteen ninjas sent by Konoha, a few from the medical ninjas in the village that managed to gather enough courage to help in the fight and the flocks of birds of mount Seinaru sukai. But even then they were divided, the west were covered by team 10,Yumiko and Akihiro, the east by team 8 and Takao, the south by team 7 with Hideo and Sara, leaving the north to be completely protected by the flocks.

At the south outskirt of the village hidden in the forest watching the attack were two men wearing cloaks with the hoods up, one seemed to be in his twenties while the other was definitely nineteen.

"That's definitely her" The guy in his twenties said licking his lips. "Oh…fighting like she does right now, she's definitely your little sis"

The other one remained silent giving no reply.

"Sometimes I wish you could give me your opinion" The guy sighed then smirked "But that would defy the very purpose of the seal. Now, let's lure your sister away from those two jounins"

While the other guy followed all that he could muster to show how frustrated he was the clenching of his fists.

**Sara Pov**

I used the attacking enemy's hand as leverage to jump behind him and drawing my katana I pierced him from behind. Putting Chakra to my leg I kicked the one in front me strong enough for him to lie unconscious. Side stepping a punch from behind I brought me elbow down breaking his arm then kicked him in the stomach.

Sensei, Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were fighting beside me and we somewhat managed to thin out the numbers of the enemies. One of my clones dispersed sending her info to me.

"They're done on the east side" I told Kakashi since he was the closest "They're heading north"

"Which would explain where those reinforcements are coming from" He said as he looked straight ahead, there were more ninjas coming from the forest "They probably had some retreat from the east to come here, they know you're the real Sara"

"Then where is the leader that's giving out the orders?" I wonder as we both continue to deal with the incoming enemies.

'Sara, team 8 and Takao are heading this way' Sadao told me over the mind link.

'They dealt with the enemies at north already? No way!' I asked him surprised

'No but it was orders that the north be left for other flocks to handle'

'Whose orders?' I wondered with narrowed eyes

'Lady Susumu if you can believe it!' He told me causing my eyes to widen.

'She involved herself?' I asked him

'Yeah, she didn't give me a reason but she was the one that divided us and gave the orders' He told me making me sigh 'It's probably best if they come this way, if the enemy really did realize you're the real Sara, then the more ninjas here the better. Just don't go running somewhere alone'

'No promises' I replied in the end, while I continued to fight the enemy.

I threw two senbon needles at an enemy sneaking on Sakura causing him to fall unconscious. She nodded in my direction as a thank you.

After a few more minutes of fighting, I saw him standing at the edge of the forest, I stopped fighting and just stared wide eyed at him, and I didn't even register the info coming from my second and third clone. I didn't register anything till Sasuke landed beside me stopping an enemy from hitting me.

"You shouldn't space out!" Sasuke shouted at me causing me to look at him before looking back at where Yoshio stood to see him walking into the forest. "What's wrong?"

Ignoring Sasuke and him calling my name as I ran ahead to the direction Yoshio went. Fighting through the enemy lines in front of me blocking my way.

'Sara, Stop now!' Yami called in mind but I ignored her. 'Idiot! It's a trap! An obvious trap! You shouldn't go alone!'

'Sara turn around now!' Came Sadao's voice too but I ignored him as well 'Sara!'

'I saw Yoshio! I am going after him and no one will stop me!' Was the only reply I gave as I ran into the forest.

**Hideo Pov**

Fighting one after the other, they weren't opponents that took much to defeat but they with their numbers they managed to keep me busy that I didn't have enough time to keep an eye on Sara.

Slashing another enemy with the claws I wore on my hands, I tried to catch my breath and maybe locate Sara.

"Hideo-san!" I heard Sadao shout as he came closer and flew into eye level "She went into the forest"

My eyes widened and worry filled me.

"We need to catch up to her" I told him as he pointed to the direction she went "Tell Kakashi to handle things here and then follow me"

He nodded as he took off and I ran towards the forest behind my idiot of a niece.

**Sara Pov**

I couldn't see him but I could sense his chakra, he was moving through the forest quickly and at the pace he was going I had no hope of catching him before he reached where ever he was luring me to.

'Idiot turn back!' Yami had been shouting at me ever since we left the field and entered the forest and I continued to ignore her. 'What good will you do your brother if you fall into the trap? or worse what if you have a seizure? You know he won't be alone so you shouldn't be either!'

I knew she was right but then if I bring someone with me the enemy could retreat seeing that their trap failed, or they could be strong enough that whoever comes with me could end up dead. I wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt.

I kept running after Yoshio's chakra for a few more minutes before I came out of the forest to the cliff that was at the edge of the island. It was a big and open area and I could easily see Yoshio standing there beside another man.

The hood of the cloak Yoshio was wearing was down, so I could clearly his stoic, emotionless face and the headband which hid the seal on his forehead.

The man to his left was a bit tanned, had red spiky waist length hair, wore a cloak and was holding a one blade scythe in one hand. He a smirk on his face as he looked at me, I just narrowed my eyes in return.

"That easy huh?" The man wondered as he rests his hands on the end of the pole of his scythe as its other end rested on the ground. "You could have at least pretended to care that it was trap. So you're really willing to do anything to get your brother just Orochimaru Sama said"

I just glared at him as I tried to assess his chakra and figure out a plan of action. Searching my mind I remembered his name from the bingo book, Goro Nao but I couldn't remember anything else. His chakra was strong at the very least jounins level, and then the weapon in his hands, a scythe wasn't a weapon often used by shinobi considering it was a big weapon that would require remarkable speed if you wanted to even manage to hit a strong enemy.

I probably could keep his scythe at bay but that's if he just attacked alone which was very unlikely, so I was really facing a dilemma here.

"So If I told you to come quietly you would probably say no, right?" he asked as he swung his scythe with his right hand, I just drew my sword as an answer "I will take that as a no"

**Third Pov**

It took less than a second for Goro to be behind Sara with his scythe trying to reach her as she defended with her sword. He was fast that her reflexes barely kept up with his attack.

Sara managed to push the scythe back before jumping back to a safe range, her eyes darting between both men. Yoshio was like the walking dead staring at nothing just standing there, while Goro had a crazed look on his face and out of the three Sara was the most tired. She could still keep going and she still had her chakra reserve but fighting at the village earlier took some toll on her.

"I really want to finish this before any of your friends join us so…" Goro said as he looked at Yoshio "Fight her but don't kill her"

The next she knew she was thrown to the side like a rag doll losing her sword in the process, Yoshio was fast, and quiet she sensed him too late to react.

As she stood up slowly, she jumped quickly as Goro swung the scythe at where she were before. In midair though she quickly summoned a clone to throw her out of the way as Yoshio's fist hit her clone instead of her.

But as she landed, she didn't have any time to respond as the scythe blade was a few inches from her.

She waited for the hit but her eyes widened as she the scythe was stopped by metal claws, next to her stood Hideo blocking the scythe's attack. He pushed it back, grabbed Sara and jumped back.

"Idiot!" He shouted at her as he kept his eyes on the enemy.

"Could have given us a few more minutes!" Goro complained as he looked at Hideo, Yoshio landed beside Goro.

"I can't stop you from doing your plan, but you better come back alive so we can deal with your clear disobedience to your mission leader's orders" Hideo told her in an irritated tone knowing that there was no way to stop her.

She smiled as she stood up her focus on Yoshio "I will try my best"

In the next moment Goro was in front of Sara attempting to attack her but was blocked by Hideo again.

"Go!" Hideo told her as she jumped over Goro and ran towards Yoshio. She didn't stop thought and kept running as she passed him running straight into the forest.

"Damn it!" Goro cursed as he turned around to follow her before having to swing his scythe to defend against an attack from Hideo.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hideo asked him with stoic face.

"You want to fight me fine!" Goro told him turning around before a crazed dark look covered his face "But if she gets away I will make sure to maim you and cut you to shreds.

Yoshio, you go catch her and make sure you bring her alive"

Yoshio disappeared as soon as it was said.

"Now shall we get started" Goro said as he swung his scythe again.

In the forest Sara was still running at full speed, she needed to get Yoshio to a safe distance from the village and everyone she didn't know the full effect of her plan or how their fight would fare she needed to have enough distance to make sure no one was in harm's way.

'Sadao please don't come, head back!' She thought to Sadao as sensed him closing in on her

'Not a chance!' He replied determinedly

'Sadao please I need to do this alone, I can't have anyone else there. Please listen to me and turn back!'

'Give me one good reason to turn back!' He replied shouting at her

'Because it's about time this girl grew up' Yami was the one to reply 'this fight I think but be the thing that helps her get past it all and accept it but she has to do it alone'

'Why should I trust your words?' Sadao wondered and Sara could almost see him narrowing his eyes.

'Because I have been in her thoughts far longer than you' She told him 'and she's already dying so might as well let her die saving the people she cares about'

'That's really not a good reason' He told her flatly.

'Sadao, this fight is the only way I can get past everything that happened' Sara told him 'it's like one of the fears I have, I need to stand up to it and alone.' She smiled 'Besides I won't be completely alone, Yami will be with me. Trust me Sadao'

It was silent Sara switched to jumping hidden in the trees as she could sense Yoshio nearing her.

'Come back alive!' He replied finally 'You still need to talk with the flock, have the surgery and celebrate Yoshio coming home'

'I will do my best' She replied smiling and she could sense him stop following her.

'I hope you're not really expecting help from me?' Yami asked her dryly

'Don't worry, I think I can handle it' Sara replied as she started running up the rocky side of a cliff once she was out of the forest.

She was running up for a few minutes before she reached the edge jumping up she landed on the high cliff before coming to stop a small distance from the ledge.

The cliff was a grassy area with a wide river in the middle and at the other edge -beside the on Sara climbed from- The River ended with a waterfall.

A couple of more minutes Sara jumped to the side avoiding the punch that came towards her.

'Yoshio I promised to save' she thought to herself as she landed on her feet and looked at Yoshio 'Today I keep my promise'


	45. Chapter 43

**Sara Pov**

-_Flashback-_

_I hide behind the door frame leading to the doju where they trained_. _ They didn't notice me though, at that time – three years old- masking my chakra was one of the first things I have learned by myself right after using it._

_I kept an eye on the two sparing figures inside, while about a few month before my eyes couldn't even catch their movement, now it was like they were moving at normal speed._

_I followed every kick, punch, dodge and block move either of them made, taijutsu was the most basic thing for shinobi, so training myself in it won't carry as much risk as the ninjutsu or genjutsu or etc., that if I don't train in high level stuff like the some I read about._

_Watching them though I was fascinated by my brother's movement, at age nine he was keeping up with Dad's speed and movement, he was even landing his blows, I completely admired him. _

_Dad was helping him train for the Final phase of the chunin exam and I had no doubt he was going to make it, after all he was defeating Dad the head of our clan._

I was standing opposite ofYoshio both of us assessing the other and in my case noticing a few things.

'He can't use chakra' I thought 'but he did use the teleportation jutsu back during the attack.

So is he holding back or is there more to it?'

In a blink of an eye, I had my arms crossed in an x blocking his incoming punch causing me to skid back.

I crouched as he aimed a high kick, I tried to kick his legs but he jumped up before using me as leverage to jump over me or so I thought before he grabbed by the shoulder during it and threw me as soon he landed on his feet.

I grabbed the ground trying to stop myself which I managed in the end, but as soon as I stopped He was in my face again landing multiple punches to my stomach, the final one throwing me back again, only stopping when my back – luckily- hit a high rock just before the river, whose stream was pretty strong.

'If I keep on thinking I won't even have a chance to react' I thought to myself resigning myself to let instinct take over. Normally it wasn't the best plan but under the circumstance he was faster and stronger, instinct was all I had.

He came at me with a punch, I evaded to the right, Aimed a kick to his head but when he evaded downwards, I used my other leg with chakra in it, to kick him in the chest as I used my hands to balance myself. I had managed to throw him a bit a way.

I came at him with a high kick, he managed to evade downwards again, and I used his shoulder as a leverage I jumped over him as he tried to kick my legs from under me.

I tried to gather some chakra but the worst happened a headache not quite like a seizure but strong enough for me to lose focus as Yoshio pummeled me till I was on the ground coughing blood.

'I don't even have time to weave hand signs at this rate I am doomed' I thought as I tried to propel myself.

'Use your dark chakra' Yami told 'At least then he won't be able to touch you'

'But...'

'No buts!' She screamed at me 'He's going to get you to a near death point, all you will do to him is give him a few burns'

She was right and I knew that but even then what if he didn't stop, it won't matter much then. But I did what she told me considering I didn't really have that much options.

'Until I find another way' I thought to myself as I finally stood on my legs, coated with the dark chakra almost like I was on fire.

_I was in court yard in the middle of the doju at night, I kept on hitting the tree log in front of me, practicing all the moves I have seen them do._

_Hitting it down before dodging left, like there was an incoming punch, rotating and kicking him in the back of the head. _

_Practicing on a tree log wasn't much like a real opponent, I knew that much, I wanted to be a shinobi and start training that very moment but I wasn't planning on telling anyone till I thought I could back my words with action._

He had tried to hit me but when it burned him he back away holding his hand, I looked sadly at his hand, but I kept focused on him. Using those few seconds I move my arms quickly forming the required seals.

"Light style: Light prism jutsu" I said as the familiar prism appeared around him trapping him inside.

I sighed in relief, but then anther headache came forcing me to drop the jutsu. In my moment of distraction before my eyes focused on him again he had weaved his own seals.

The next I know it I am no longer on the cliff, there is no river or forest in a distance, I was in an all familiar alley.

_I was watching them again today, the chunin exams had ended a week ago, and the day before Yoshio had been made a chunin. _

_This time though he was training with mom, Dad sat inside watching them from the sidelines. I could somehow sense like something was different, for instance the three of them had an amused smile on their, maybe because of it was of Yoshio passing but somehow I knew it wasn't that._

_I was so engrossed in the spar, that I didn't even see dad sneak from inside and stand behind me._

"_Enjoying the spar?" he asked me amused and causing me to jump and shriek from surprise._

_The spar stopped I knew that much considering I could hear the three of them laugh at me._

It was a dim-lighted alley back at the clan compound, the alley itself though wasn't what captured my attention it was the three people at the end of it.

A grown-up woman laid on the ground, a little girl crying over her and an older boy beside them. It was my mother, brother and me, on the day of the attack.

I froze as I heard my sobs all the way from there and saw my brother rest his hands on my shoulder trying to comfort the younger me.

Hearing footsteps from behind me, I turn around drawing a kunai to see Orochimaru walking towards me holding a body under his arm.

He stops a distance from me before throwing the body in front of me. I stare horrified at my father's dead body, his face looked almost like he was asleep. A scream from behind made me turn my head, to see Orochimaru holding my brother by the neck, and the other me staring at him horrified.

It only took a few moments for my brother to stop struggling before Orochimaru let go. Yoshio's body fell to the ground as I stared horrified.

'It's a genjutsu. It's just a genjutsu' I kept repeating in my head but it didn't stop the tears that started dreaming down my cheeks nor was it enough for me to try to undo it.

"It's all my fault" A tiny voice said, my other self's voice "It's all our fault" she said as she looked at me through angry eyes.

"If you just fought instead of being just scared" a voice said from behind me, I turned around to see Dad standing up and staring at me.

"Maybe if you weren't even born" Another voice said from beside me where my mother now stood.

"Or if you just let him take you" Yoshio's voice said from my other side.

"If we didn't unlock our kekkei genkai" my other younger self said from in front of me holding a kunai. "It's all our fault"

"It's your fault!" The four people repeated around me as I covered my ears and tried to block the voices that kept increasing in number and volume.

Faceless bodies were appearing all around, the bodies of those who died that night.

'It's just a genjutsu' I repeated in my head as I dropped the kunai in my hands and tried to move my hands to release it.

A kunai was shoved in my hands as the voices died. I looked up to see just me and the 5-year old me surrounded with just darkness.

"Wouldn't it be better for us to die?" She wondered "for all the guilt to disappear? For us to make up for all the wrong we did? So we won't hurt anyone again?"

My hands dropped beside me as I stared at the kunai lying in front of me in the darkness, I was all alone now in.

**Hideo Pov**

I stared for a second at Yoshio's back as he jumped into the trees to follow Sara before my gaze fell on the man in front of me.

I was still blocking the last hit from Goro, He drew his scythe back before swinging it again.

"I don't really like when people interrupt my fun" He said as his scythe hit the air between us "You're going to have to pay for that"

His scythe hit the tree log as I used the replacement jutsu appearing behind him I wove hand signs before my hands hit the ground.

"Earth Style: Stone Column Spears" I said as spears protruded from the ground but he kept jumping back to avoid them with a crazed grin.

A clone appeared behind him weaving hand signs.

"Water Style: Liquid Bullets" The clone said before spitting out a condensed ball of water at high speed.

Taking his moment of confusion I jumped above him, my left hand which I wore the claws aimed at him as I dived towards him.

The claw collided with the blade of his scythe as he used its handle to stop the rock spears, the water bullet hit him but barely had an effect considering how his new look.

He had released the curse mark I saw that as I dived above him, but it had grown to make him look like some sort of demon.

"Nice plan" He said "But I want to finish this quickly, so might as well go to second stage. You better be more fun that what you just showed me."

I Jumped from him landing a distance away, I realized that his scythe laid abandoned on the ground, and that his hands both now had giant scythe like blades above them, he had reddish skin, Two horns had grown from his forehead and tail with a blade at its end.

As I landed I turned around to block his two blades with the claws enhancing them with earth chakra but he managed to break them, I used substitution jutsu just as he was about to cut me.

I hid in the trees studying him as he looked around for me. 'He was faster now…. and stronger' I thought as I looked at the remaining's of my claws.

I jumped from the tree, landing on the ground in a crouch as he destroyed all the trees on that side. His blades had enlarged.

Forming hand seals quickly "Earth Style: Stone Pistol Jutsu" I said shooting bits of rock that expanded into huge boulders, he cut through them with his blades, I jumped back forming hand seals to create several earth clones.

"Water Style: Water Shockwave" I shouted as I jumped back, a spiraling vortex of water formed before it exploded from the top in the form of a wave, covering the entire area.

He came through the wave, I just managed to move back and avoid being sliced into two halves, but I did get cut two diagonal cuts on my chest. But he had landed on the trap I had set.

"Earth style: Mud wolves" I said as five wolves appeared and kept attacking, even when he destroyed them they just regenerated. I wasn't bleeding from the two cuts, they were just shallow ones. I used the few moments the wolves bought me to retreat into the trees.

I looked back at the battlefield forming hand seals, he had found the scroll that set the trap and destroyed it, making the wolves disappear.

"Earth Style: Mud Silhouette" I summoned a mud river that proceeded to wash against him he was holding his ground though but still unable to move forward and with the earlier water the speed of the river was even faster.

I moved a bit closer to him on the mud river forming hand seals. "Earth Style: Falling Earth Spears"

Spikes protrudes from the ground around him, the ones tried to penetrate him didn't go in to deep because of the density of his new skin, but the trapped him enough for me to form hand seals again.

"You're not so strong after all" I told him "Earth Style: Stone Plate Coffin" I controlled multiple sections of rock that appeared from the ground to form two gigantic sections before I crushed him.

I used hand seals after a few moments to make the gigantic boulder move back into ground level, just to be sure that there was no chance for him to come back.

This fight had already taken too much time and chakra then I wanted it to, after all I still had to follow Sara.

I sensed two chakras coming from behind I turned around just as Asuma and Kakashi landed in front of me.

"Looks like you ran into trouble" Asuma questioned as he took a look around the clearing.

"That was the leader Orochimaru sent probably" I informed him "He wasn't cut for it though"

"And Yoshio?" Kakashi questioned

"Sara is fighting them and us better catch up" I told him as I started running in the direction she had gone.


	46. Chapter 44

**Sara Pov**

_-Flashback-_

"_So you sure you want to be a shinobi?" Dad asked me as we sat on the deck at the back of the house._

"_Yup" the three-year-old me replied popping the p._

"_Even If I asked you to not become one?" He asked causing me to furrow my eyebrows in confusion._

_I thought for a second before replying "Probably won't become one, I don't want to make you sad"_

"_Who said anything about sadness, worry is more like it" He told me with a sad look on his face._

"_You're lying, you look sad right now" I stated with crossed arms._

"_Since when do you call your own dad a liar?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow_

"_You're the one that told me to be honest" I told him sticking my tongue out at him childishly as he smiled at me. "But why are you sad daddy?"_

_His smiled disappeared as he stared in a distance with the same sad look, he stayed quiet for a few minutes as he gathered his thought before he started talking._

"_Did you know I had a big brother? His name was Seiichi." He asked me but didn't wait for an answer "He was great shinobi, managed to join the ANBU before he decided to return to being a jounins become a team sensei by the third ninja war. The war thought was really tough in the end he stayed so that his team could escape."_

_It was only later I find out that my uncle was the sensei of Asuma, Kurenai and Raido._

_I stared down in sadness, I might have not known this uncle of mine but losing your big brother was something I thought I would be able to live through, back then I couldn't imagine losing Yoshio._

"_Being a shinobi is more than just fighting and cool moves like how you watched Yoshio" He told me looking at me in the eye "Lots of people fight, but being a true shinobi is about fighting for others, to protect those you love, the greatest shinobi aren't the just the strongest ones they're the ones they're the ones willing to lie down their lives for what they care about, whether it's their village, clan, family or friends. It's a life of sacrifice and lost mostly, but it's fulfilling when the people you protect live" He smiled "You only truly become strong when you're willing to fight for others as much as you would fight yourself"_

_-End of flashback-_

I was still in the darkness, after sobbing for while I now stayed still in the darkness, just awaiting whatever will happen to me. Memories was all I had to pass the time, while I waited for my fate that had hunted me for 7 years now.

The memory the played in my head about my dad had me thinking about what he would think of what I was doing, he would probably be mad, scold me even. What I was doing was plain giving up, I knew it and I was doing it willingly.

"Damn right he would be mad" A voice I knew all so well shouted angrily as Yami appeared from the darkness, but despite the darkness I could finally see her.

Short chin-long black hair, brown eyes, she was normal height and looked like she was in her 20's or 30's.

"Did you know how hard it was to get through the genjutsu to you?" She asked angrily with crossed arms "Since I knew how much of a coward you are, I had to follow here"

Coward….That was what I was a coward.

I looked away from her to stare at the ground again hoping the darkness would just swallow me, But I was harshly by my hand.

"You idiot stop acting like a coward, and start acting like a shinobi worth of the Hiroshi name" She shouted at me pulling me to my feet. "Your parents were talented shinobi, they were the leaders of the clan and they gave up everything so you could live and you honor their sacrifice by acting like a coward. For seven years all you did was give up or runaway, from everything, always afraid to face your fears, your shinobi grow up and act like one"

"Maybe I am not meant to be a shinobi" I said in a quiet voice almost a whisper "Since I became one all that surrounds me is misfortune and the ones that pay are the people around me"

The next I knew it I was on the ground, holding my cheek. She punched me, she actually punched me.

"You really irritate me, you knew it from the start your dad told you 'The life of a shinobi is one of sadness and misfortune' it's a life of sacrifice" she shouted at me coming closer before pulling me by the collar to her face "You though he was joking, maybe pulling your leg. You chose this life and it chose you by giving you the talents you have. When people die for you, you don't live in self-pity or guilt, you make sure their death was worth it, you honor them by fighting for life, by protecting others too. You get it coward?"

I stare wide eyed at her as she releases me and takes a breath.

"It's not over yet, you have a brother to save, a sister that need by her, friends that care about you" She tells me crossing her arms "You're not alone you idiot, you're surrounded by more friends than you could need. You should count your bless before giving up. Stop running from everything!"

I was processing every word he said tears spilled from my eyes, and my cheek was still stinging from her punch.

She was right, when I left my friends it was because I was afraid to lose more people, when I chose to hide my illness it was because I didn't want to face the truth, when I didn't face my guilt it was because I was always scared of reliving it, it was easier to blame myself to explain all the sadness that I was just weak, that I was a coward.

"Yami, Thank you!" I tell her smiling and forming a hand seal to break the genjutsu.

"Your welcome brat" She tells me with a smirk as she disappears with the darkness.

It was well about time to get my brother back.

**Third Pov**

Yoshio walked with the girl in his arms, unconscious under genjutsu. He was heading back to where Goro was, to wait for further orders. Goro though was still fighting Hideo at the time.

Yoshio threw Sara and jumped back to avoid her attack, as she used her hand to balance herself and land in a crouched position. The light chakra in her hand fading she didn't know why exactly but she felt that using her kekkei genkai' two chakras now was like using another limb.

'You've did it idiot, you've unlocked the second stage' Yami's voice said in her mind 'of course you wouldn't able to use it to its maximum ability right away but you can put your plan to action.'

Sara's hand retreated searching for her weapon pouch, katana and hostler but of course none of them were there, she was unarmed while Yoshio had already drew a kunai.

They came at each other, Yoshio slashed at her with the kunai while blocking with the other hand. They moved in sync, they would evade each other attacks while aiming a mix of punches and kicks.

Sara tried her new acquired ability as she aimed a punch, he evaded to the left of her right hand punch, and she opened her palm so light chakra pushed him away.

Taken by surprise he fell back and it took him a few seconds for him to regain his balance, but Sara was quick to come forward with a punch to the gut.

She was already tired and exhausted, she wanted to end it quickly. It was almost dawn, the first light already in the horizon, she had been fighting all through the night and with her illness, she was definitely exhausted both physically and emotionally.

She had put dark chakra in her previous punch, enough to cause to stay down as she walked closer breathing hard.

She summoned a clone which was dangerous giving her current state, but she needed it.

The clone sat down a little distance away, using the double layered barrier jutsu.

Sara walked closer to Yoshio, using her dark chakra she tied him to the closest tree. She started gathering her light chakra in one hand like she was forming the rasengan, a small concentrated rasengan. Using her other hand she removed the sound headband on his forehead.

"I don't know if it will work or not" She told him sadly "It might hurt but bear with Yoshio please"

With that she moved the light rasengan towards his forehead where the seal was. Yoshio screamed with contact.

In his head many chains holding his conscious, many that sealed his memories where breaking from the overflow of chakra, and it was all flooding back.

Sara tried to keep her hand steady, while Yoshio screamed in pain, it took all her self-control to not let herself stop the jutsu as painful as it was it might work.

For a couple of minutes the torment continued before the ball of chakra exploded in a huge blast. The resultant light was seen from all around in the barely lighted sky.

The explosion calmed down and the dust from the blast settled down to Sara and Yoshio lying on the ground in opposite sizes.

Sara was barely conscious but she needed to check on her brother, she couldn't stand so she started crawling to where he lied on his side by the remains of the tree he was tied to.

She couldn't make it all the way, his chakra was there so he was alive, and from the distance she crawled now she caught a good sight of his face now without a seal on his forehead.

She smiled to herself as she lost conciseness, the last thought on her mind was 'It worked.'

-A few days later-

Both Sara and Yoshio had yet to wake up, both team Asuma and Kurenai ha already left along with the prisoners from the sound shinobi, they had managed to capture a lot of them but despite their efforts some had escaped.

Team Kakashi and Hideo stayed though since the medics hadn't cleared Sara out yet, she was in a coma according to them, she had used too much chakra and given the tumor it had affected her too badly. Yoshio, on the other hand they couldn't a find a reason for him being unconscious but they predicted it was probably was because his mind was still piecing itself together after being controlled by a seal for 7 years.

Hideo had been by Sara and Yoshio's side's the entire time refusing to leave their shared hospital room. The others tried to visit when they can, but they also were helping the villagers rebuild the destroyed parts of the village.

Other than Hideo, Manami was the one that checked on them the most trying to figure different ways to wake them up, but with no luck.

**Hideo Pov**

Everyone has been bothering me about going to the home to sleep, but I couldn't just leave him here, both my nieces were here they needed me as much as I needed them.

It had been four days now and neither one of them showed any sign of movement so far, Manami had said that Sara's tumor was getting worse and that whatever surgery she was going to have she would better do it as soon as possible but we just have to wait for her condition to be stable enough to travel.

Of course, Kakashi, Manami and I had to explain only a few bits to them without telling them the entire thing about her illness.

I was holding the bridge of my nose from tiredness when, I heard the stirring coming from Yoshio's direction.

I tuned towards his direction to see him propping himself on his hand holding his face and rubbing his eyes. He started looking around till his eyes fell on me.

"Uncle Hideo?" He said uncertain "Is it really you?"

"I don't really look that different do I? You did see me four days ago." I told him a bit lightly although inside I was flooded with relief that he finally woke up.

"Four days?" He wondered and looked away like he was remembering something "has it been only four days since the attack?"

"Well yeah, I would say you and Sara gave us quite the scare when that explosion happened and we found you and you won't wakeup" I told him remembering the fear when I saw the explosion.

"Sara?!" He looked up like he just remembered "How is she? Where is she?"

"Right here" I said pointing to the other bed "She's going to need a bit more to recover though, She is…."

I stopped looking at the disbelief on his face as he looked at her "What's wrong?"

"But it can't be her!" He told me shocked "My sister…Sara she just five years old"

I looked at him wide eyed before thinking through it a bit.

"Yoshio when you said attack which one did you mean?" I asked him

"Orochimaru's attack on the clan" He replied shocking me.

"What the last thing you remember?" I asked him just to be sure of what's going on.

"I was a prisoner in Orochimaru's hideout, I don't how long I had been there after the attack, but the last thing I remember is Orochimaru coming to me saying he was going to try a new jutsu" He replied with furrowed eyebrows like he was trying to piece everything together.

It was the worst thing that could happen right now, he had no idea that it's been seven years since then.

"How long has it been since then?" He asked with closed eyes.

I sighed before replying "Seven years" Lying to him wouldn't do anything he was pretty smart to know that it had been a long time.

"What did I do? Which attack did you think I was talking about? And how is seven years of my life gone?" He asked trying to hold himself together.

"Don't you want to wait till you recover?" I asked him but he shook his head

I took a breath before I explained everything that happened since the attack seven years ago till now.

By the time I was finished it was almost noon, he was shocked but he was taking it well, except for the fact that Orochimaru controlled him, he was afraid of what Orochimaru could have had him do, guilty of the fact that he hurt his sister and attacked the village.

"Yoshio it wasn't your fault" I tried to comfort him "None of it"

"She is in a coma because of me" He replied

"No she's in a coma for another reason" I told him before I explained about her tumor.

By the time I was finished he stayed quiet not sure what to say.

"Uncle, I came to ch…" Manami started saying opening the door till her eyes fell on Yoshio. "Yoshio" She said slowly.

His eyebrows furrowed in concentration like he was trying to place her face, and I realized that's probably why he had wasn't sure if it was really me at the start.

"Mana…" He questioned but didn't finish as she threw herself at him hugging him and sobbing.

"Yoshio, you're back" She said holding him "You're really back."

He was surprised for a moment before he returned her hug.

I stood up and left the room, even though Sara was still unconscious but the needed their moment.

"Didn't think we would be seeing out of the room" Kakashi said as he was walking with his team in the hallway "Is she awake?"

I shook my head causing the hopeful look on Sakura and Naruto's Face to disappear.

"Yoshio woke up though" I told them "Manami came to visit thought I would give them some time to catch up"

"So that means no visit today!" He stated with a closed eye smile

"Kakashi we need to talk" I told him seriously.

-A few days later-

That day I had told Kakashi that didn't remember anything from the seven years, Yoshio had been checked out the day after, he was ok but despite that he stayed by Sara's side refusing to leave.

We were by the village gate right now getting ready to leave, Sadao, Shou and Daichi. Sara was still unconscious, she was going to be on Sadao's back along with Manami who was coming with us to the leaf.

She said she was planning to come anyway so it was better to come now to keep an eye on Sara.

"Take care of them, Hideo" Taro told me "and of yourself too."

"I will do the best I can" I told him.

I rode one of Shou's clone as Manami said her goodbyes to them too. Everyone was already getting ready.

"Tell her to write to us when she wakes up" Yumi told me.

"Yup we'll be catching up to you in a few months" Takao said "We do plan on coming official shinobi"

Akihiro was there but he was by Sara's side speaking to her softly, probably hoping she can hear him. Manami walked to him putting her arm on his back to assure him, before she sat on Sadao's back holding Sara.

Once everyone was ready we said a final goodbye before we took off to the sky.


	47. Chapter 45

**Third Pov**

It was the noon of the day the team has returned from Heiwa, Sara was already in the hospital with the doctors fussing over her, and everyone else's injury had already been taken care by the doctors back at Heiwa.

They had given their reports as soon as they came, Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke already left Tsunada's office to go check on Sara, while Manami and Kakashi waited outside, Hideo and Yoshio were inside with Lady Tsunada and Shizune beside her.

After Yoshio told her what he had told Hideo, that he couldn't remember anything from those seven years, Lady Tsunade had attempted to see if there was something she could do to help him recover his memory but with no avail.

"Just to be sure we'll have Inoichi take a look maybe he can find something" She said as she looked seriously at him "and you will be subjected to several medical and psychological tests, and we'll have a sealing ninja make sure it's completely gone. When it's done we'll see about you being a shinobi, understood?"

"Hai" Yoshio replied firmly "Lady Tsunada about my sister…"

"I am going to check on her as soon as we're finished, we might have to perform her surgery sooner than I thought and with even greater risks" She said biting her nail "That idiot sure is like her mother"

At the last sentence both males smile, even though Yoshio's was a sad one.

"Lady Tsunada there is also the matter of Manami Hiroshi" Hideo reminded Lady Tsunada

"She's welcome to becoming a citizen, Shizune can you handle the details and set the tests to see if she can become a medical shinobi" Lady Tsunada replied

"Hai" Shizune replied as she headed outside to talk to Manami.

"Hideo take Yoshio to the interrogation unit and call Inoichi while I go take a look at Sara" Tsunada told him

"Hai" He replied before he and Yoshio started making their way outside.

It was troublesome indeed having to watch a brat do that much even though she knew how badly it would affect her but for 'Yami' it wasn't just troublesome, it was nostalgic it reminded her of something she thought was lost from this world, Selflessness.

But while Sara's actions did show her that, she saw it in her friends too through Sara's eyes, and just maybe there was still hope for this world after all this time maybe this new generation would manage to break the hatred.

Now though she had to focus on keeping Sara alive, while she couldn't heal her she could save her from giving up maybe she can help her fight from inside her mind to wake up, but she had to find her first.

Yami walked inside Sara's now dark shrouded mind where the young Hiroshi was lost, trying to find her or sense her presence. After such a strong light jutsu and before she could even get the grasp of the new power she unlocked with the second stage, there was low chance she would wake up from this on her own, it was the curse of the kekkei genkai after all, powerful as it was, it's power brings the demise of their user if not handled properly.

Tsunade was checking Sara's vitals and her condition and things weren't looking good, it wasn't easy making the choice to operate now and risk increasing her chance of death because of the fact of her low chakra which was taking too long to recover, or wait a couple of days for her chakra to recover as much as possible but with the possibility of her not even waking up of her coma.

Tsunada bit her nail irritated before deciding, she was going to have to operate today but she was going to have other medical shinobi handle the girl's chakra recovery while they were operating.

She started giving commands to prep the girl for surgery and to prepare the operating room.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were waiting in the hospital corridor even when Lady Tsunade went in to check on Sara, it was annoying them how no one would tell them what was going on with their teammate and they weren't even allowed to go in to check on her.

But when lady Tsunade came out and started telling the doctors and nurses to prepare for surgery, they have had enough, or at least Naruto was the first one to burst out.

"Would anyone tell us what's going on with her?" He shouted but everyone was busy they just ignored him.

"Idiot" Sakura said hitting him on the head, even though inside of her she wanted to shout out too.

Sasuke just remained quiet, leaning on the wall his hands crossed, his hand that was pulled too tightly was the only nervous sign he showed.

**Two weeks later…**

It's been two weeks since the surgery while it was the success the tumor was gone, her chakra system didn't seem to suffer any damage but Sara hadn't woken up so far.

Team 7 minus Kakashi were on a mission in the land of tea, Kakashi was on a mission of his own, so was everyone else they were all on missions even Hideo.

Manami managed to pass the tests and was now working in the hospital, Yoshio was in and out from different interrogations and from his mind being probed for any memories but with no avail, let along he had a sister in the hospital that he would rather be by her side and he was introduced to his adopted sister by Hideo and would rather to at least get to know that going through this interrogations, thankfully they said today was probably the last time.

Yoshio sighed as he entered the hospital that afternoon and made his way to Sara's room where Kohana was already waiting beside Sara, doing some of her homework.

It had been what they were both used to lately, Kohana would come after school, or on the weekend from morning, Yoshio would come in the afternoon or at night at the last couple of visiting hours they would sit beside Sara, talk for a bit, eat some of whatever food Yoshio bought on his way and he would help her with her homework if she needed.

"Hey Kohana" He greeted her taking the seat beside hers "how was school?"

"The usual I guess" She said a bit hesitant -for some reason Yoshio felt it was because of him- not even looking up from her homework.

**Yoshio Pov**

'Two weeks and she's still hesitant.' I thought to myself suppressing a sigh, Hideo did try and fill me in as much as he could about what happened in those seven years, so I was at least aware of how much Kohana loves Sara 'She probably afraid that I would just replace her now'

I was trying to try and get to know her but she still hesitates, and with everything I don't think I could progress much until things settle down.

I held Sara's hand 'It's about time you woke up idiot' I thought squeezing her hand 'You're not going to leave me, Kohana or your friends right now, especially not after I just came back'

"I-I…" Kohana started saying catching my attention, she looked like she was about to cry as she looked at Sara "I don't want to lose my family"

"Don't worry she's going to wake up" I tried to assure her but she just shook her head.

"I know that she promised, but…" She said as she started to tear up "but will I still be her little sister"

I patted her head "Yeah you will and now you're going to even have a big brother" I told her before hesitating "that is if you want me to be"

She cried nodding.

**Sara Pov (during the entire time she was unconscious)**

It was dark and cold, it felt like I was drowning and no matter how hard I tried to get to the surface, I couldn't.

How long had I been in this darkness? Why was I here? Where was here? Why am I trying so hard? All of those were questions I didn't know the answer for, all I remembered was darkness, but for some reason I kept trying to get myself out and fight my way upward, even though it was without any result, it felt something was holding me down, but I kept trying.

'Help…' I thought desperately 'Someone please help'

I thought of stopping, of giving up but my body wouldn't follow it felt as I was fighting for something important but I really couldn't remember what.

'Why can't I remember anything?' I thought again like many times before.

"Sara…" A voice echoed for the first time in while 'Who's Sara?' I thought "Come on wake up" It was familiar but I couldn't place it, it felt important to me "Don't give up, I just got to see you again."

So I didn't give up it felt like this was someone I needed to reach, it almost brought me to tears hearing his voice, was he important to me?

"Sara everybody is worried" A female voice said "I don't know what to do to wake you up, please wake up"

Everybody? People are worried about me?

"I told you to come back alive" a new voice said "alive means in a walking talking state"

It was quite for a while but I was even more motivated to keep fighting now.

"Nee-san…" a voice said hesitantly "Don't forget you promised me you won't go down that easily, please wakeup and please stay my sister"

I was a sister?

Many voices echoed through for a while, all of them different, all urging me to wake up.

I kept fighting, why am I motivated? I can't even remember.

"SARA!" A voice shouted I was surprised as a light shone from above "I finally found you"

The light it helped me remember everything, it was like it removed the thing blocking everything.

I fought hard to try to reach it, but I was struggling against something holding me down. I was so close but what was holding me down wouldn't let go, just as I thought I will never reach it a hand shot down and pulled me.

I was pulled up and into the embrace of someone, I felt my tears although it was sobs I cried in the person's embrace.

"It's okay" she said stroking my hair as she held me "You're okay now"

I couldn't stop crying for a few minutes, I wasn't even sure where I was or what exactly happened, but that darkness scared me, and all I could do to show how afraid I was, was to cry.

After I finally calmed down, I got out of the embrace, wiping my eyes. I looked at Yami, who was standing up now, she was the one to save me and to hold me. She had short black hair, brown eyes, medium heighted with a curvy body and looked in her mid-twenties.

"Don't look so surprised" She said before sighing "We have a lot to talk about, but for now everyone's probably waiting"

I understood who she was talking about, I nodded.

"Thank you, Yami" I said with a small smile, before focusing on waking up.

I blinked a couple of times so that my eyes could get used to the light, when everything came into focus, I was staring at the familiar white celling of the hospital, I turned my head in both directions, to see the room was obviously empty.

Trying to sit up wasn't the best call I made, my body was so stiff it ached to move, so by the time I managed to get myself in a sitting position, I was aching all over.

I tried to see as much as I can through the glass of the window, it was still early morning maybe even a little after dawn, and I was back at Konoha.

'How long has it been?' I thought coughing a bit, my throat was very dry, with no water beside me on nightstand.

I tried to stand up to get to the bathroom and wash my face, despite the aching I managed to get out of bed and removed the connecting tubes, I leaned against the wall as I moved considering how my legs were shaking, that was the only way I could move.

When I was in the bathroom I was panting, after I washed my face, I looked in the mirror to see that the top of my head was completely bandaged, with my long hair gone and just short strand under the bandages that didn't even pass my chin and my bangs only made it my eyebrows.

**Yoshio Pov**

It's been a week now since I was finished with the all those interrogations, since the little talk with Kohana which I am glad to say that it managed to make our relationship better, we actually managed to talk a lot in that week and get closer.

I wasn't back as a shinobi yet, Lady Tsunade said I had to wait till the elder council approved of it, so I had lots of free time on my hands now, which I mostly spent with Sara and Kohana in the hospital, both me and Kohana waiting for her to wake up, or I was trying to catch up with more details with what happened in the seven years, or I would hang with Manami who wasn't exactly free with all the hospital work she had to do.

I was walking in the streets making my way to the library to pick a few books.

"Yoshio-san!" a voice called from behind, I turned around to find Sakura running towards me "Wait up!"

I stopped when she caught up she was panting and leaning on her knees, she gathered her breath.

She and her team just made it back a couple of days ago, with Sasuke ending up in the hospital.

"I was looking for you all over" she said finally still panting "I was just at the hospital and the nurses were talking and…"

"Take breath Sakura" I told her as she shook her head.

"Sara's awake" She said finally causing my eyes to widen.


	48. Chapter 46

**Yoshio Pov**

"Sara's awake" She said causing my eyes to widen.

I ran in the hospital's direction shouting thanks over my shoulder. I jumped over the roofs to avoid the crowd in the streets.

I made it in a short time and continued running through the halls towards her room, to find Manami by the door talking with Shizune.

"Manami!" I called she turned towards me smiling. "Is she really…" I started asking feeling anxious, a bit frightened and hopeful.

"Yeah she's awake" She answered before I could finish talking "Lady Tsunade came to check on her herself she's already inside with her, we just have to wait a bit."

I couldn't stop the smile that made it to my face as relief and excitement filled me, or describe how glad I was right now, I couldn't even stop the chuckle when I heard Lady Tsunade shout at Sara, she was probably getting a speech beside her checkup.

**Sara Pov**

I held my hands to my ears as Lady Tsunade shouted at me, telling me off for using too much chakra, and taking that much risk on the mission.

I was told that it was about a month since the mission, that they had to do my surgery while I was unconscious, and that it was a success.

I was really glad but there was still one thing, I needed to make sure of.

"Lady Tsunade!" I called trying to get her to stop yelling "I am sorry, I really am!" I said sheepishly bowing with my head.

She huffed angrily before sighing "All in all you're in a good shape, but considering how long you have been in a coma, you will need sometime before you could move normally, you will just have to take it slow and also it will be better not to use any chakra for the time being till you completely recover, so you will be staying at the hospital for a while longer -and don't you dare object-" She said the last part as I opened my mouth to object so I just settled for a groan. "-you will also be taking physical therapy till you can move normally again."

"Fine" I huffed "I wanted to ask about…"

Before I could even finish she was already leaving, taking me by surprise.

"Hey wait!" I called but she just ignored me making her way outside and I heard her talking with somebody. "I just wanted to ask about Yoshio." I whispered sighing feeling even more worried.

'What if I didn't manage to help him? Or if something happened to him? Could they be trying to hide it from me?' I thought anxiously 'What if I had ended up killing him...?'

'You're just overthinking it!' Yami intervened 'He's fine…probably, what you did at least shouldn't have harmed him in any physical way'

'I really hope so' I thought closing my eyes and biting my lips 'I can't lose him'

'Focus on recovering' she told me 'Even if somehow he isn't in the village and got away, you now don't have to worry about some illness, we'll just have to go and find him again'

'Thanks Yami'

'What are you thanking for me you idiot?' She shouted at me 'you were just annoying me with those depressing thoughts'

I giggled at her answer and smiled as I felt some of the anxiousness leave me.

"What's funny?" A male voice said, catching me by surprise as I opened my eyes as I gaped at the person standing beside my bed. "I thought you were going to sleep, till you giggled, so I didn't want to disturb you" He was babbling as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yo-sh-io" I said slowly gaping at him, and looking into his brown eyes that mirrored mine. Before I realized it I had pushed myself up from bed, and threw myself at him hugging him tightly like if I loosened the hug he might disappear. Tears streamed down my cheeks as relief and happiness filled me, more than I have felt in a while. "You're back, you're really back" He returned my hug slowly "Onii-san, you're back!"

"I am back" he assured me, hugging me tighter, as I kept crying. "I am right here"

'My brother was back', the words registered in my mind slowly 'Yoshio is finally back'

"I am sorry, I should have helped back then" I apologized crying harder "It was my fault, they attacked because of me and I couldn't even…"

"Don't!" He said sternly, as he hugged me tighter if possible "It wasn't your fault, don't you dare blame yourself for it"

"I am sorry" I said as I cried even harder, the tears of the seven years were all coming back "I am really sorry"

"You idiot" He said chuckling "I am here because of you, the reckless idiot"

I finally pulled back sniffing as I smiled at him, repeating the in my mind that he's back, like a charm.

He handed me a tissue.

"We have a lot of catching up to do, don't we?" He told me smiling

"Yeah" I said giving him a wide grin.

'My brother was back' that thought was like something that came out of a dream and for the first time since forever, I felt that maybe things won't go bad again.

**Time skip….**

The afternoon came before I even knew, Yoshio and I spent all morning catching up, I was completely shocked and somewhat relieved when I found out that he didn't have any recollection of the seven years, having seven years taken away from him was something I hated but at least he didn't remember whatever Orochimaru had him do. On the other hand, He filled me in on the time I was unconscious.

Almost everyone I knew had some sort of mission, so I didn't get many visits.

Manami came in the middle of us talking taking me by surprise, she was now training here to be a medical shinobi, I was happy but disappointed since the other three didn't come too, she left quickly saying she needed to get back to work.

Sakura and Naruto stopped by too, Naruto was being a goofball as usual till Sakura hit him on the head and started lecturing me like Lady Tsunade and even more about how I should have told him that I was ill since we were friends and a team.

I was apologizing most of the lecture, but still couldn't remove the smile on my face that stayed there all day.

They had to leave to go check on Sasuke who was in the hospital too, causing me to worry before they quickly assured me that he was fine and that Lady Tsunade already healed him, he just resting now.

Yoshio and I were talking now when the door opened.

"Yoshio-nii, the nurses were looking at me happier than usual today, do you…" Kohana was saying till she spotted the awake me sitting in bed, I grinned and waved at her.

"Good afternoon, Hana" I told her "How was school?"

She stared tearing, before she ran at me and hugged me, I hugged her back rubbing the back of her head assuring her I was okay.

"You're always worrying me" She said tearfully after a while when she pulled apart "I am glad you're back Onee-san"

"She was definitely raised by you" Yoshio said chuckling

"Shut up" I told him hitting his shoulder playfully.

"She did the same thing when she saw me this morning" He explained to a confused Kohana, who decided to sit at the end of the bed, instead of a chair like Yoshio.

"Wait!" Kohana said surprised "She cried?!"

"Like a baby!" He confirmed with a grin causing me to blush and groan.

"But you never cry!" She looked at me quizzically

"I was bound to happen" I said with a groan "I am human you know"

"It was quite a scene" He said chuckling again.

"I wish I was there" She said groaning.

"Shouldn't you be doing some homework?" I asked with a tick mark as they both chuckled at me.

"It's the weekend, It can wait" She retorted grinning.

"Like I would let you" I told her "You're gonna finish it all today" She groaned in response as I smiled triumphal and Yoshio just chuckled.

It was a long day, the night came quickly, and the time for them to go came too quickly. Kohana didn't do her homework in the end, we all ended up spending the rest of the day just joking and talking.

I laid my head on the pillow with a smile that I couldn't get off my face all day, as I went to sleep that night feeling great.

**Time skip…**

It's been two days since I woke up, thankfully I can walk a little now but I do need some support, so I use crutches when I am walking alone.

The last two days I have had visits from Yoshio, Kohana, Manami, Sakura, Naruto and Hideo-senpai who made didn't stay for long since he had another mission to go on although he just came back from one.

Everyone had some sort of mission and since everyone who wasn't on a mission were all somewhat busy today, Kohana had school, Yoshio was talking to the council today so he can get back to being a shinobi and I had no idea where Sakura and Naruto were, I was making my way to Sasuke's room to see him.

When I reached his room I started to awkwardly try and maneuver myself while holding the crutches to open the door, I was not used to them nor did I like them one bit.

"Yes" I said triumphal when I managed to open the door finally.

I made my way inside leaving it open so I won't struggle on my way out.

"Yo" I greeted Sasuke with a grin, which completely contradicted with his distant, gloomy looked.

"Hey Sasuke" I called louder, but he was completely lost in thought. I looked at him worriedly.

'What the hell happened on that mission?' I thought while huffing, I walked closer and sat down on the empty chair beside his bed, resting the crutches on the bed stand.

"Sasuke!" I called still no response, I waved my arm in front of his face and still no answer.

"Sara?!" Sakura said from behind me startling me, my senses weren't in the best of shape and since I wasn't even allowed to use chakra I was getting startled a lot this days. "What are you doing out of bed?!"

She was now looking with a disapproving look at me.

"I just thought I would uh- walk a bit um- get my legs moving and visit Sasuke" I was struggling to get the words, somehow Sakura had managed to develop a scary look that was like a mini Tsunade. "I was worried about him you know"

"Come on, I am talking you back to your room" She told me disapprovingly "You're not supposed to walk alone yet"

"I was using those damn crutches you know" I muttered as I took the crutches and started standing.

"Still don't walk by yourself, you're still recovering" She warned me.

"No promises" I mumbled pouting.

"What was that?" She asked with that scary look making me gulp.

"Nothing" I said nervously.

**Next day**

"Those damn geezers" I said irritated to Yoshio "what's there to think about? You passed all the tests and interrogations, you should be allowed to be a shinobi."

"They're probably a little distrusting" He told me "Anyone would I did work for Orochimaru"

"Stop defending them, it's not like you were doing it willingly" I retorted frustrated "I bet Danzo the one behind it, that geezer always likes to interfere"

"You really should show them a bit of respect" He tried to discipline me sighing.

"When they stop being annoying" I told him, I still hadn't explained any of what was going on with the clan to hi and I doubt 'grandpa' approached him with the subject. "By the way how things going with Lord Fumio?"

"We haven't really talked other than the meeting with the clan elders when I came back" He told me passively "So I am guessing nothing out of the ordinary, although I think he's trying his hardest to avoid me"

Even though Lord Fumio always tried to keep talk with us to minimal back before the accident, Yoshio always tried to talk to him despite that. He was too kind.

"Things has to get better at some point" I tried to assure him "They don't have anything solid to refuse your request to get back on the field"

"I hope so" He told me smiling "Yeah right I almost forget, I met Sakura this morning she told me to tell you that team 10 and 8 are back from their mission today."

"Finally!" I said joyfully "About time everyone started coming back. Shika and Choji are on team 10 and Hinata is on team 8." I explained to him.

"I almost forget about them" He told me guilty "You always liked to play with them"

"Yup" I said grinning "They were one of the few good kids who didn't bully others around"

"Hey, how are you today?" Manami asked as she entered the room, this time she was actually dressed in normal cloth instead of the medical uniform.

"Feeling ready to get out of here" I pleaded causing her and Yoshio to chuckle "No work today?"

"No, the first day off" She explained "One that I needed desperately"

"You have been working hard" Yoshio said "You deserve a day off"

"You guys should go out you know" I told them smiling.

"Uh?" They questioned blushing.

"You guys were best friends when we were kids, you probably want to catch up too right?" I questioned while smirking internally.

"Um well that…" Yoshio said nervously "If you want to go Manami?"

"Yeah sure" She answered smiling "But are you sure you won't be lonely Sara?"

"I am bored of him" I answered playfully "I will be fine just enjoy yourselves"

After they said they're goodbyes and Yoshio gave me a look that said that he would deal with me later they both left. Konoha wasn't coming today either since she was spending the day with Moegi.

'Yami?' I thought 'Don't you think it's about time we talked'

'No' she sneered back

'Why?' I huffed

'It's better wait till you're allowed to use chakra again' She explained 'We'll talk but not now'

'Fine' I replied as she sighed.

'Somehow since you woke up it's like I am dealing with a child' She stated annoyed 'Is your brother's return really the reason it feels I am dealing with a childish version of you?'

'I haven't changed' I replied blushing 'I am not a child'

'You're compared to me' She retorted

"Why are you blushing?" Someone said startling me, I looked at the said person shocked.

'Somehow this feels like a dejavu from the day I woke up' I thought

"No reason" I replied "Choji didn't come with you, Shika?"

"Ino dragged him off somewhere" Shikamaru replied as he took a seat "So how are you feeling?"

"Great, never been better" I told him. "And I am sorry"

He blinked at me confused.

"For not telling you guys about my illness" I explained "I am sorry"

"Did you hit your head?" He wondered causing me to look confused at him "You idiot, what matters is you're alright, just don't do it again"

"Ok" I replied smiling "So how was the mission?"

"It was a drag" He told me "We had to escort this annoying merchant"

"Annoying merchant?" I wondered "fat, self-absorbed and 'loves' to keep making fun of those around him?"

"That' the guy" He told me

"Had to escort him two years ago" I told him with a frown "He kept criticizing me, and saying he should pay less since he was not only getting escorted by a child but a girl too"

"I am surprised he's still alive then" He stated smirking.

"Mid-way we ran into some criminals I dealt with them by myself and he stayed quiet for the rest of the way" I told him smirking "Besides I won't kill a client"


	49. Chapter 47

**Sara Pov**

A couple of days have passed now I was in my room with Shizune, who was making sure I actually recovered, since yesterday I woke up and for whatever reason I could walk normally, and move normally without feeling stiff.

"I can't believe you recovered this quick" She huffing "I still think you should stay here for a few more days till we're sure you're fine"

"Please no!" I pleaded "I will go crazy If I stay here anymore, besides I am fine, I don't feel tired or any sort of pain"

"But…" She started but I interrupted her.

"Please!" I pleaded "If I feel anything is wrong I will come straight back."

She thought for a few seconds before sighing.

"Fine" She gave in "But if you feel the slightest pain you come in, and if you train just basic stuff"

"Roger" I told her as nodded leaving.

"Just sign the checkout papers at the front desk on your way out" She said at the door.

**Yoshio Pov**

I was staring at the apartment door, complementing whether to knock or just leave. Just when I was about to finally knock, the door opened revealing a 25 years old women, with light blond hair tied in a ponytail, light green eyes, she was shorter than me –about 165 cm in height- , and she looked at me nonchalantly.

"Midori, long time no see" I greeted awkwardly.

"Yeah" she replied "I heard you were back. You're welcome to come in"

She said getting out of the doorway, I followed closing the door behind me.

The room had only essential furniture; a table with couple of chairs in the main room which was also joint with the kitchen, a mini bookshelf next to the window at the other side and the kitchen had a sink, a couple of counters, a refrigerator and a few cupboards.

"Want some tea?" She asked from the kitchen.

"Yeah sure" I replied as I walked to the bookshelf.

I looked at the photos above it, one was our team photo way back, I was five at the time with both Midori and Haruhiro twelve- Midori Yamada and Haruhiro Minami my teammates from when I graduated the academy- , and our sensei at the time was uncle Hideo. Midori was in the middle grabbing me in hug from the neck –since I was shorter than her at the time- pulling into the middle, as well as grabbing Haruhiro-who had short spiky brown hair, blue eyes ad was the tallest of the three of us- from her left by his arm into the middle two, while Hideo just smiled at us while patting her head.

Another photo was on Midori's fourteenth birthday, the last photo that had the three of us, Haruhiro died shortly after on a mission, all of us had our faces covered in cake, since at the time Haruhiro accidently pushed Midori into the cake, when she tried to get revenge she ended up hitting me instead, she did manage to get some cake on him in the end before we took the photo.

Another was when she made it to chunin at fifteen, it had both me and uncle Hideo with her, and there was another with her parents too.

She put the tray with the tea cups on the table as I took a seat opposite to hers.

"How does it feel to be back?" She asked calmly

"It's a bit hectic, trying to catch up to everything and getting everything sorted." I answered "So how have your seven years been exactly? I was surprised when your parents told you joined the ANBU"

"You went to my parents?" She wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I didn't really know where else you will be living for all I know you could've gotten married" I replied

"Nope just moved out on my own" She answered taking a sib of her tea "The ANBU was the best place for me to be, at that time."

"The Midori I knew wouldn't have probably fit in in the ANBU" I told her.

"People change" She answered.

**Sara Pov**

After I left the hospital I headed home, changed into my ninja cloth got my tools, and headed to a training field beside the lake I showed to Sakura a time ago.

I sat cross legged like I was about to meditate when actually I thought it was about time Yami and I talked.

I closed my eyes while sitting in the training field and when I opened them I was inside the light and dark place, but instead of how it usually was it was just a grey room now with some water spilled on the ground, which was completely strange since somehow I had a bad feeling about it.

I spot 'Yami' leaning on the wall looking at me with a thoughtful look.

"So…" I started hesitantly not sure where to start before deciding "um, What's your name?"

She looked at me seriously before sighing.

"No point in hiding it I guess" She muttered "Emi Hiroshi"

"So you really are from the clan" I exclaimed which sounded stupid after I said it "That's why you knew so much about the clan, and I am guessing right that's why you hate the clan so much you're the Third, the third person to reach the third stage of the Kekkei genkai"

"Yeah I am the one the clan traitor that made sure no one can use our kekkei genkai again" She told me before sighing "Or at least tried to. By the way the kekkei genkai is called naikai (inner world), I can't believe the clan forget its name."

I looked at her thoughtfully thinking of every time we talked or interacted. "Why did you do it?" I asked her "You don't seem like a person that would just kill people, or the kind that would betray the people close to them"

"Well I did all of those things" She told me tusking "You're just gullible"

"No, you're hiding something" I told her staring her in the eyes determinately "Something happened right?"

"And why do you exactly think something like that?" She asked me crossing her arms "Just because I saved you, you think I am all good, I killed my own blood!"

"I have killed people before" I told her shamefully "It may be why I am trying to give you a reason, like a reason would make it alright but a reason doesn't make it alright it never does. I am trying to know your reason so I can understand what happened, understand you but even without it, I already got to know you somewhat so I don't really anything would change If you decide not to tell me, but talking might help"

"You just said complete nonsense" She told me "But yeah things did happen, but if I say it will probably just sound like a bunch of excuses"

"I don't care how it sounds" I told her sternly "I have feeling you won't lie to me"

She looked at me surprised before coughing.

"Fine" She gave in "But I need to explain a few things about naikai first before I get into what happened.

First how much do you know about it?"

"Um, it has three stages, we control the chakra of light and dark, it has something with our emotions, and oh I need use chakra with it" I stated which by the end sounded like almost knew next to nothing about it making, Emi sweat drop.

"So Right, half right, right, half right" She told me before sighing "Should have figured as much, but what kind of idiot jumps into using something when they know nothing.

First off, we control Light and Dark energy or force or power but they can't be called chakra because normally unlike chakra you don't need to use hand seals, your case is different and I will come to that later" She added lastly when I was about to object.

"Secondly, it does have three stages" She told me "The first one is Nagare (flow), the second one is Kansei (control) and the third is known as Heiwa (harmony) like the village.

I will try and explain about them as much as I can.

The first stage, when you first release it can only be released when the harmony of the person is lost. You don't have to ask I will explain." She said when I was opened my mouth to ask something, I closed it again quickly.

"Most kids are in harmony during childhood since they haven't really faced the harshness of reality, or the sadness in it, the harmony can be broken in many ways, your case when you first realized death when your grandmother died. When that happens the harmony is lost, you can think of naikai as way to restore that harmony through its stages.

The first stage, Nagare, is the flow of the power due to the disharmony in this stage the power is wild and free to take any form and be used in any way and it gets even stronger as the disharmony increases, like in your case when you saw what happened seven years ago and how it somewhat calmed down when you started to regain harmony by spending time with your friends and looking somewhat to the future, you'll get it when I get to Kansei.

Anyhow although it gets stronger at the same time it becomes wilder and difficult to control, in this stage it's up to the user on how to control it, in your case you mixed in with your chakra to control it.

That about sums up the first stage. Any questions so far?" She asked than continued before I could say anything "good let's move on to second stage.

The second stage, Kansei, it's unlocked, when you have accepted -in your mind at least- to face the negatives in your life, your heart is still lost but with your mind you begin to control it and force control on it. The power now isn't as wild as it was it flows peacefully but it also has its limits, see the room we're in." I nodded. "Remember the water you were drowning in?"

I froze before nodding.

"This was where it was, when you use naikai, light or dark in the second stage this room will fill up slowly or fast based on how much you're using it, the water itself is the risk of this stage drowning in this water, giving into the darkness won't kill but you won't exist anymore, the body is taken over by the power and your soul trapped in the darkness till the end of your life."

I took her words in remembering that darkness, how I couldn't remember anything, how I wanted to just give up.

"You used too much of it when you saved your brother so you ended up I that state, also the few days you spent in the hospital recovering, was to recover from the after effect of using it too much, the darkness was sort of still preserving your body that's why you were in a coma and your body felt as it did when you woke up." She explained "Back on the subject, Kansei unlike Nagare can't be used in just any form or way, it's in this stage that it takes one of four forms for the user to use, it's like a chakra nature but you can only use one form of it.

Creators, Healers, Illusionist and Readers." She stated counting them on her fingers. "The names are after the light side of the power though, in each exists a dark side, Creators obviously create things to control like your barriers, Healers heal but not just physical wounds depending on the strength of the user they could as far as heal poisons and disease with just their power, Illusionist create a more realist and stronger genjutsu like the one hiding Heiwa or that invincibility jutsu of yours, Readers has the ability to read the mind and heart of whoever they want." She took a breath before continuing with a frown.

"The darker side though that's the terrible part, power that's in the wrong hands could lead to disaster, Creators have the ability to erase it wouldn't be just destroyed but as if they have never even existed, Healers can stop pain or force it; they can torture without having to use a single tool, Illusionist turn your worst nightmare to reality or at least your mind would think it real which makes any effects from it real, Readers can control minds turn people against each other."

I was completely quite, powers like these in wrong hands, it would be unimaginable.

She stopped talking and looked into distance like she was remembering something.

"I won't be talking about the third stage since it's a secret except for those who reach it. So there you have it the power given to us by the gods, to destroy each other.

You say you killed people, but you've never been to war, war changes everyone, some become better, but most change to the worse"

She sighed, when I looked into her eyes it looked like she was holding some tears.

"After the war back then, we thought we might enjoy peace finally, but like I said use your power too much and your gone lost to the darkness in you, back then the only ones that returned from the war as their selves were me and two other people from the clan, Kyo and Sayuri.

The others used it too much we didn't realize what was going on till they killed one of the three of us, they decided they didn't want anyone else to have the powers like them, so they moved the clan scrolls on the kekkei genkai and hid them that's when they were caught by Sayuri and killed her.

Kyo and I managed to catch up to them and the fight broke out, I was the only one to come out alive, that's when I decided to hide it our clan didn't need such a terrible power so I had it, I went back and took the fall for everything, hating one person is easier than thinking that the everyone you trusted to protect you were planning on killing you.

That's my story; the short version anyway."

I was gabbing at her, not sure what to say but two words came out.

"I'm sorry" I said almost like by instinct.

"For what you didn't start the war that destroyed all my friends" She said resentfully.

"I did bring it back, without even knowing what I was doing" I said shamefully. " You did what you had to do, what anyone would have done."

She sighed.

"What's done is done" She crossed her arms "What I can do know is teach you to use it, so sit up"

I opened my eyes coming to face with the lake.

'First' she said to me 'We have to know what type you are, so just open the palm of your hand in front of you'

I followed what she said.

'And just try releasing it'

I did what she said and ended up with a golden ball of chakra or light power.

'So you're a creator'

'Out of curiosity what happens for other types' I wondered.

'Creators have some sort of shape or small structure; most users' turnout to be creators, Healers end up with light coat around their hands, Illusionist usually end up changing the scenery around them, Readers, which is the rarest, nothing happens but they catch a glimpse of the mind of anyone who's near them.'

'Ok so what now?' I asked.

'Now nothing' she said making me frown 'Train in your basic jutsu we're not moving to naikai till you get your act together. We need to make sure your chakra is still ok'

'Fine' I said huffing.

**Time Skip….**

"Why won't it work?" I shouted frustrated, I was trying to do a simple task just to summon three clones, so why do I keep getting five to seven clones every time.

'I told you you're putting too much chakra into it' Yami…I mean Emi said.

'I tried putting less didn't work' I thought with a frown, sitting down and trying to think.

"Well isn't it too soon for you to be out here" Someone said walking next to me "And in full gear too"

I opened my eyes to Hideo sensei beside me looking down at me.

"Sensei! Finally, back, they sure been keeping you busy" I told him with a nervous laugh, which didn't stop the disapproving look.

"I go to the hospital they say you woke up and already been discharged earlier today, and isn't supposed to push yourself too soon" He told me putting emphasis on the last part.

"Oops" I said nervously "I wasn't really doing much, just the clone jutsu and even the regular one not shadow clone"

"You expect me to believe that you've been here since this morning doing just the clone jutsu?" he asked me with raised eyebrow.

"Well it's not working right" I told him before explaining the problem.

"It's obvious isn't it?" He told me after "You're out of synch with your chakra, you remember that you were struggling with it before, so using it was like trying to get water from a river which had boulder cutting the normal flow, but now with the bolder gone it's much easier but you're still putting the same effort when you were struggling"

"But I tried putting less chakra" I told him

"You probably thought it was less, but it wasn't you need to get readjusted to your chakra" He told me "Rest for today and tomorrow I'll explain what to do before I leave on my next mission"

"You're leaving so soon?" I wondered sadly.

"The village is overflowed with missions, and not enough people" He told me "Now let's go eat"

I stood when he ruffled my hair.

"Glad to have you back" He told me, with a smile.

"Glad to be back" I told him with a grin.

**The next day**

'I can't believe I have to do this' I thought embarrassed. 'I didn't even do it when I first learned'

Right now I was on the roof home with a leaf stuck to my head trying to keep it there with chakra, but ended up ripping it every time.

Hideo sensei left earlier for his mission, after telling me to this after which I was supposed to practice tree climbing then water walking after which I should probably have my control back.

Right now I was home alone doing this embarrassing exercise, Yoshio was finally given his first mission which was with sensei and Kohana was at school.

'Maybe training instead of complaining' Emi told frustrated.

I groaned when the leaf cut again.

I could keep my focus for five seconds before it ripped every time.

Instead of getting another leaf though I crossed my legs and tried to meditate maybe it would help, and it was easier considering it was early so it was quiet.

A scream from above interrupted me before I even started, I looked up to see a messenger hawk.

'Wonder what the Lady Tsunade wants?' I thought standing up.

'Maybe it's better to walk there?!' Emi exclaimed when I was about to use the body flicker jutsu.

'Seriously?!' I exclaimed ticked off 'I can do this! At least I will get to the village gates!'

I used the jutsu and was engulfed in the cloud of smoke.

"Huh?" I wondered loudly as I looked around me 'I am on Hokage mountain'

'Thank god you didn't up in the middle of air' She said making me pout.

'I really need to train harder' I thought sighing as I made my way down to head to the Hokage's office.

**Short Time Skip….**

Apparently I wasn't the only one summoned, Shikamaru and I stood in the middle of the Hokage office, along with Ibiki, Anko, Genma, Izumo and Kotetsu standing by the walls.

"To be honest with you" Lady Tsunade started saying "I don't know what to do. With the final exam being suspended it was the opinion of many that none of the students should pass this time around and that includes you two."

"However," She continued holding the calligraphy brush from the ink and starting to write on one of the two empty scrolls in front of her "Shikamaru I hear that the third Hokage had nothing but the highest praise for your match, it seems he meant to recommend you for chunin, in fact all those who observed the fight and your proctors felt the same, so in this case my opinion doesn't really matter from this day force I hope you'll strike to achieve a level of excellence worthy of that headband congratulations as of this moment you stand a chunin." She finished and rolled the scroll, Shikamaru was gabbing a bit beside me surprised so I gave him a little push, he walked forward taking the scroll and a chunin vest from her.

'It was a match with an unforgettable ending' Emi said snickering

'well he did think that strategically he would have lost, so he took the best option for himself' I defended him

'another funny thing is they're probably going to promote you to chunin, when right now you can barely use your chakra properly' She said snickering.

'Shut up'

Lady Tsunade coughed bringing back my attention to her, Shikamaru was standing beside me again, wearing his new vest.

"Sara, you have been a shinobi for over seven years now, already went on missions that surpasses your genin rank, it seems that third planned to promote you to jounins" She said making me gasp at her as she wrote in the empty scroll "Considering your mission record and the opinion of other jounins and chunin, I would have to agree. Congratulation as of this moment you stand a jounin."

She finished rolling the scroll as Shikamaru gave me a little push to get moving forward, I took the scroll from her and the vest but didn't wear it.

**Time skip….**

"I can't believe you two got promoted!" Ino exclaimed excitedly "Even someone like Shikamaru seems so important all of a sudden"

We were outside the Hokage building, with Asuma, Ino and Choji.

Choji was laughing at Shikamaru saying it didn't suit him.

"And skipping chunin all together is an achievement, it's pretty rare" Asuma said puffing on his cigarette

"Yeah pretty impressive Sara" Ino said admiringly.

"You always were special" Choji told me with a grin.

"It just means more work" Shika said sighing "What a drag"

"Well you didn't expect to live lazily all your life" I told him giggling.

"That was the plan" He replied making me sweat drop.

"An occasion like this deserves a celebration so let's head to Yakiniku Q to celebrate those two promotions" Asuma said making all of us look at him.

"Thanks but I'll have to pass" I excused "I…have somethings to take care of"

"Oh come on if I have to go through you have to come" Shikamaru said

"Yeah come on Sara" Choji told me "We could have an eating competition"

"Choji girls don't each that much" Ino exclaimed with a crossed hands.

"We'll reschedule that competition Choji" I told him making Ino gap at me "But can't come sorry"

"If you change your mind follow us" Asuma said.

"Ok" I told them as I headed in another way than theirs, holding my vest and the scroll in my hand.

'Jounin!' Emi was exclaiming joyfully and laughing like a maniac ever since we came out of the office 'Jounin who can't use her chakra properly'

I was pretty red in the face. 'What a timing!' I thought embarrassed 'but still Jounin! I am still warping my head around it'

'Well it's a big deal' Emi said stopping laughing finally 'and considering you're just 13, maybe you should have gone to celebrate with them.'

'No they're a team, I would be just intruding' I told her 'beside with this I need to control my chakra even faster'

'Yeah but you have nothing to hurry for' She said 'You have time off to recover anyway'

'Still I'll celebrate later' I told her 'wait till Yoshio, Sensei and Kohana hear about it'

I was smiling proudly as I stared at the vest in my hands.


	50. Chapter 48

**Sara Pov**

I was meditating in front of the lake near the village, the sun was setting by the time I opened my eyes.

'Didn't think it was that long?' I thought as I stood up stretching 'I will just try it really quick before heading home'

I went to the closest tree taking a leaf and putting it on my forehead, I started concentrating chakra to it.

It was okay for a couple of minutes before it ripped, I smiled happily 'finally some progress'

Emi was probably asleep already.

'Time to head home' I thought.

**Time skip…**

"Jounin!" Kohana exclaimed excitedly when I told her the good news. We were both in the kitchen, while I was cooking dinner for us. "Wow, that's great news sis! Congratulations! Wait till Yoshio-nii hears about it! We have to celebrate!"

"Calm down" I told her "We don't really need to celebrate"

"WE DON'T NEED TO CELEBRATE?!" She shouted at me "We're going to celebrate when they get back and you're going to enjoy it! Oh my god I need to start planning a party!"

She finished heading out of the kitchen, making me sweat drop.

"A party?" I whispered to myself "This girl likes parties' way too much!"

**Time Skip….**

'This should do it' I thought happily as the leaf was on my forehead safe and sound for a few minutes now.

It was at sunset of the next day; I was at the lake since dawn training.

I stared at the sky feeling uneasy, the feeling was with me since morning and I had no idea why I was feeling it.

'Maybe it's better if I went to check on Sasuke' I thought 'Actually I haven't seen any of team 7 lately. I think I can make it before visiting hours are over'

I walked into village streets, trying to push the uneasy feeling into the back of mind for now.

"Sakura!" I called to the pink head when I saw her at the bridge over the water channel. "Haven't seen you in a while now!"

"Hey Sara!" She greeted with a weak smile "I guess I was just busy"

"What's wrong?" I asked her "Did Sasuke say something mean? Or did Naruto annoy you?"

"You haven't heard?" She asked me sadly to which I shook my head confused "Sasuke…He's left the village"

I was taken by surprise to what she said.

"What?! But why would…" I didn't even need to finish "don't tell me the idiot is going to Orochimaru?!" I finished angrily my hands shaking.

"I think so" She replied "Ever since Orochimaru gave him that curse mark, he's been different"

I looked at the ground frustrated.

'That idiot' I thought angrily.

"When did he even leave?" I asked her quietly trying to control my anger.

"He left at midnight last night, I tried to stop him but I couldn't" She told me on the brink of tears, so I hugged her and she started crying.

"It's okay Sakura! We just have to send someone to get that idiot back!" I assured her as she continued sopping till she quieted down.

"Was someone sent after him?" I asked her 'she did wonder why I haven't heard about it, so I assume it's not a secret'

"Yeah, Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and Neji" She informed me "They left this morning"

'A chunin and four genins?!' I thought horrified 'There's a big chance that Sasuke has escorts from Orochimaru's subordinates and He wouldn't just send anybody'

"Then they'll probably bring him back don't worry! Naruto is an idiot that doesn't know when to back down, he'll bring him back" I tried to assure her with a smile. "do you know how Lee's operation went?"

She wiped her tears as I tried changing the subject.

"Yeah it was a success" She told me making me sigh in relief 'At least there's good news'

"Damn I'm late" I faked being worried "Sorry Sakura, I have to go"

I ran off heading towards the Hokage's office.

**Time skip…**

"No!" She replied while going through the papers when I asked for permission to follow Sasuke "You're not ready for missions yet"

"But…" I started but she just sighed.

"As Jounin can you say you're really ready to go out on missions?" She asked me and as I stayed quiet.

'With my chakra the way it is, a long battle or a long mission will probably make me dead weight' I thought logically feeling infuriated.

"Maybe not, but I also can't just leave them alone" I told her determined "Orochimaru wouldn't have just sent anybody to escort Sasuke, knowing that I can't just sit behind"

"I have already asked for support from the sand" She told me putting the paper down "I can't send a still recovering shinobi out"

"Even though it takes at least three days to get from the sand to the village, that's too long" I argued back "I maybe still recovering but I am well enough to fight"

Let's say I was probably pushing her buttons right now, considering she was in the middle of paper work too, so I was surprised of her reply.

"Tomorrow" She replied frustrated "If they're not back by tomorrow afternoon, I will give you permission to follow."

"Thank you" I told her knowing this was the best I was going to get.

"Now out!" She bellowed furious, scaring me as I left the office.

'So more training?' Emi wondered while I was leaving the building do you even need to ask.

'Do you even need to ask?' I replied with determination.

**Time skip…**

The next day I was at the village gates waiting for them it was near afternoon, I had my sword with me, along with my weapons pouch around my waist and my holder tied to my right leg.

'Give it a few more minutes' Emi told me sternly.

Last night I kept training till I managed to climb the tree normally but I was still struggling a bit with water walking but it wasn't that much so I thought I would probably be fine in a fight now.

'No' I told her defiantly 'I am going'

I performed the hand seals "Summoning jutsu!" I yelled as a puff of smoke appeared.

The smoke dissipated to show all of my summons; Sadao, Satoshi, Rei, Shou, Daichi, Ume, Raiden, Kei, Miyuki and Ichiro.

"Sadao should have explained the situation to all of you" I stated "we're splitting into three teams to cover wider range; Shou, Daichi and Kei will cover the west direction, Satoshi, Raiden, Ume and Ichiro will cover the north direction, Sadao, Rei, Miyuki and me will cover the east direction. Anyone who finds their trail send a message to the other to gather. Understood?!"

They all replied with yes as I rode Sadao and each team headed out in their respective direction.

"We're the most likely to run into them" Sadao stated "they're probably going to head straight to the sound border"

"then why did we separate?" asked Miyuki.

"Because if the enemy ran into some other shinobi, or if they want to lose anyone on their trail they would be smart to take a less straight way" I explained sighing "I am pretty worried what might happen to everyone if they run into the enemy that's why I made sure each team had a way of communication"

'You shouldn't be so negative though' Yami tried to comfort me 'With the speed of your summons you should be able to catch up to them easily yeah'

'hopefully we're not too late' I replied.

I sat cross-legged on Sadao closing my eyes and concentrating.

'I am going to try and focus on sensing their chakras' I thought to Sadao 'Try not to drop me'

'When have I ever?!' He told me faking hurt and making me smile.

It was a good thing I tried to concentrate hard or I would have missed that small chakra sign, that was slowly weakening.

"Stop!" I shouted "Land over there" I said pointing at a clearing.

When we landed I saw it, the fallen body of someone wearing an outfit that looked similar to that of Orochimaru's with orange hair.

"They fought over here" Rei said sadly at the destroyed place "It must have taken all of them to take him down"

"No, they were tight on time, if only one enemy is here that means they had to spate one fought while the other followed the rest" I said fearfully while I checked his pulse "That the best strategy, he's dead."

I closed my eyes trying to detect if anyone was around, when I finally I sensed another weak chakra.

"This way!" I said running into the trees anxiously when we finally arrived at its place to find a thin unconscious Choji resting against a tree. "Choji!"

I ran towards him while the others were following me, Rei landed next to him already starting to check him.

"He had to have used the Akimichi pills" I said fearfully "That's the only way to explain his appearance"

"He needs chakra transplant for now, then we need to get him to the village as quickly as possible" Rei told me seriously "You need to do it, just enough for him to survive the way back to the village"

"Okay, Miyuki" I turned to the little dove "Tell Satoshi's team to meet us here as quick as possible, and for Shou team to decrease their parameter, we'll be covering the north and east only, then head to Lady Tsunade and tell her to get medical team ready at the hospital roof to take him"

"Okay" she replied disappearing in a puff of smoke.

I tuned to Choji remembering what little medical training I had and supported his head against Sadao as Choji's back was towards me and started transferring some chakra to him with my hands on his back as careful as possible.

"Damn it Choji" I cursed "You fought your hardest didn't you? I need you to fight a bit more okay? You have to survive; you understand?"

"There's Satoshi" Sadao told me.

"I hurried here" Satoshi said as he landed "The others will be here soon"

"Just in time" Rei said "That should be enough Sara"

I nodded but I was still giving him chakra.

"Satoshi you take him to the hospital roof back at the village you're the fastest here" I told him trying to hold myself together "We'll follow the rest"

"Understood" He told me coming closer "Don't worry he'll be fine"

With Sadao's help we put Choji on Satoshi's back carefully, he then took off into the tree quickly disappearing from view.

"We'll start moving, Ichiro should sense my chakra moving and they'll catch up to us" I told them before riding Sadao and taking off into the air again.

We rode for a bit more like before I was trying to sense any chakra trace around. It wasn't long before Raiden, Ume and Ichiro joined us.

"There was no sign of them on our way here" Raiden reported to me

"How was the kid you found?" Ume asked worriedly

"He's already on his way to the village" Rei told her grimly "Hopefully they can help him there"

It was at that moment that I sensed a faint chakra again.

"Over there" I said urgently since this time it was even fainter than Choji's.

We landed quickly and I saw two people on the ground; one wearing the same outfit as before and Neji, I ran towards Neji who was unconscious on the ground on his side, when I was close to him I saw that he was holding his headband in his hand and was injured badly.

"Adjust him slowly on his back" Rei told me sternly, I did as she said and putting his head on my lap, he had two small holes in his body and he was badly bruised too.

"his internal organs are probably injured badly, there's an injury too close to the heart too" She told me after checking him "And he's probably internally bleeding we need to get him to the hospital as fast as possible"

He was even in a worse condition than Choji.

"Ichiro you…" I didn't get to finish when there was a buff of smoke and Kei appeared.

"We found Kiba and Akamaru" He told me urgently "They were at river side down a canyon up ahead, they were actually still fighting the enemy and were barely standing when we showed up, Shou and Daichi were helping in the fight when a shinobi from the sand who uses puppets showed up he said he was the leaf's ally, they're fighting them now"

Shou and Daichi were the fastest after Satoshi, I was hoping they would get Neji to the village and if Kiba is injured they will need Rei.

"Okay take Rei to their location, after she's done checking Kiba and Akamaru tell Shou to make a clone and take Kiba, Akamaru and the Sand shinobi back to the leaf, and then Rei you should unsummon yourself so I can summon you if I needed you when we find Shikamaru. Kei you and Daichi should follow us afterwards" I explained to them rather quickly "Raiden you're taking Neji to the leaf, Ichiro go ahead to the village and tell them to expect Neji, Kiba and Akamaru all requiring immediate medical help"

Ichiro nodded disappearing in a puff of smoke, Rei immediately flew with Kei as I helped Neji on Raiden's back.

"Neji you better hang on" I told him quietly "Raiden be careful with him"

"Don't worry, I will get him safely there" He told me as he flew into the air.

Miyuki appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Choji already arrived there" She told me "Satoshi went back so you can summon him as soon as you need him"

"Okay let's hurry ahead" I told them urgently as I rode Sadao.

It didn't take long before I felt a burst of chakra from up ahead, when we arrived at the location it was jumble of cut down trees, when I sensed Shikamaru's chakra along with another familiar chakra, we landed next to Shikamaru and Temari on one of the few standing trees.

"You're Okay" I said happily glad to see one of them actually standing on his own.

"Sara?!" He wondered confused, he was even more confused when I hugged him.

"I was starting to think I might find one of you dead" I said probably on the verge of tears.

He pulled away looking at me seriously.

"What do you mean?" He told me worriedly "How were the others?"

"I found Choji and Neji both in critical condition, my summons already got them to the village" I told him "I didn't find Kiba myself but my summons did he was still fighting so they helped him and got message to me that also a sand shinobi showed up, guessing since Temari is here the puppet user is probably Kankuro, Rei is already on her way to give Kiba emergency treatment then they're getting him to the village"

After I was done, He looked shocked, guilty and worried.

"You should go back to the village, being there for them especially Choji" I told him gently.

He was still holding my shoulders so I felt his hand shaking.

"The mission isn't finished yet" He told me looking conflicted "Naruto went ahead chasing the last escort and Sasuke"

"Temari you're the one that finished the enemy right?" I asked seriously looking at the female shinobi dead between the destroyed trees.

"Yeah" She replied nervously

"Shikamaru you're almost out of chakra and you're exhausted, you probably wouldn't have survived this fight if Temari hadn't showed up" I said sighing "you of all people should know that this is the time to retreat. Temari, is it just you and Kankuro?"

"No Gaara should have went ahead, he probably caught up with Naruto already" She told me leaning on her fan.

At that moment both Daichi and Kei landed beside us.

"Good timing you two" I told them before turning to Temari and Shikamaru "Ume and Sadao will take you back to Konoha, I will go ahead with Daichi"

"I can still fight" Temari told me "It didn't take much to take her down"

"Yeah, but can you make sure Shikamaru goes back?" I asked her "beside its only one enemy left"

"I don't need a babysitter" Shikamaru told me irritated "Don't underestimate him the rest of the enemy looked afraid of him, so he's probably the strongest they called him Kimimaro"

"Understood" I told him "Kei go back for now,Daichi lets go, we should hurry"

I rode Daichi and we flew ahead, we were already close enough to the border that it was probably the last chance to catch up to Sasuke.

We were flying for a short while before we reached a huge clearing where I was sensing chakra from.

"That much sand in the middle of a forest" Daichi said while I noticed Lee.

"What's he doing here?" I wondered looking at him "He just got out of surgery, he shouldn't be even moving"

I then looked at Gaara and the enemy Kimimaro, unless another enemy showed up, Gaara was trying to stop an enemy running at him using his sand, the enemy on the other hand was somewhat mutated having tail and what looked like bones protruding from his body.

"What kind of form is that?" I wondered looking at Kimimaro "Looks like this time we're joining the fight; we'll hold for the right time for a surprise attack. You stay up till I tell you."

Gaara put his hand on the ground making a sand wall around him as the enemy passed through and rammed Gaara.

Kimimaro said something to Gaara that I didn't hear.

"He is not your only opponent" Lee yelled showing behind him "I am here as well"

He twisted his body kicking him but Kimimaro blocked it, Lee went for another hit but I saw Kimimaro's tail was coming from behind him, I jumped from over Daishi during that making hand seals, thankfully Gaara protected Lee with his sand, softening the hit.

"Wind style: Air Bullets" I said shooting multiple bullets of air at Kimimaro with intense speed, he was hit with the first one but it didn't affect him and he avoided the rest, I landed in a crouch using chakra to soften the landing, pulling a kunai I ran at him slashing forward as he kept dodging.

He moved his tail to hit me I crouched, sand came above me hitting him as he blocked, I jumped backwards next to Lee who was still lying on the ground.

Lee was struggling to sit up on the ground I crouched beside him, trying to ease his pain with healing jutsu.

"You shouldn't have left the hospital" I scolded him

"I could not have stayed behind, while everyone was out here fighting" He told me.

"Another one" Kimimaro said facing me "Who are you?"

"Sara Hiroshi" I told him "You're Kimimaro, right?"

"That's right" He replied was running towards us again, I waved hand seals for my light barrier jutsu but nothing happened.

Thankfully Gaara raised a sand barrier that softened Kimimaro's tail's hit to Lee and I, we were both thrown backwards in different sides.

'I told you hand seals won't work anymore' Emi yelled frustrated

'Must've slipped my mind' I retorted, but I was in a bad situation considering I relied on my barrier quite a lot.

I looked back to see Kimimaro was facing Gaara now.

"Very well Gaara" He told him "You first"

I stood up and headed towards Lee, whistling to call Daichi while Kimimaro was focusing on Gaara.

Daichi landed next to me as I reached Lee, I started helping Lee stand up.

"Daichi take Lee to Safety" I told Daichi while helping Lee on Daichi's back.

"But..." Lee tried to object

"No buts you're in no condition to fight" I told him "It's okay you did well for now".

"I want to see the battle" He told me.

"Daichi stay in the air above the clearing at a safe distance and once it's done make sure he and Gaara get back to the village" I complied to his request. He complied, and Daichi took into the air with Lee on his back.

I turned back to the fight, Gaara was facing Kimimaro who just finished drawing out what looked like his spine from his body.

'He's using his bones' I thought feeling disturbed. 'But that ability belongs to the Kaguya clan and even among them it was rare, they went extinct a few years ago, who would have thought that there was a survivor'

'Would explain why Orochimaru recruited him' Emi said.

'And would be trouble for us, his bones will be pretty tough' I told her 'That explains why he wasn't effected by my wind jutsu despite being hit by the first bullet'

"Dance of the Clematis: Vine" He said sending the end of his spine towards Gaara, as Gaara's sand protected him, the spine warped around him. Gaara didn't even seem the less bit affected.

"Then the flower" He said as the bones on his left hand grew till it formed a spiral "this bone is my strongest, it will blow right through you, defenses and all"

He coughed blood at that moment.

'He's sick' Emi noticed

'Probably dying' I told her

The sand between them started to take shape around the spine.

"Ultimate defense: Shukaku shield" Gaara said as the sand took the shape of a raccoon wearing a wide-brimmed rural hat, that is roughly thrice the size of Gaara.

I was about to go in to help in any way I can when Emi yelled at me.

'Don't!' She yelled 'You're probably going to be in the way, watch for now'

'Fine' I agreed sighing, I fought Gaara before, I know that he was strong and probably doesn't need my help for now and his shield is probably really the ultimate defense.

Kimimaro started to drill through Gaara's defense, eventually the bones on his hand started to crack till broke off.

"It's so strong" Kimimaro commented

"I took the hardest minerals in the soil I gathered" Gaara told him "and then I fused them with the sand using my chakra"

'As expected from Gaara' I thought holding my kunai ready just in case.

'We should go' Emi told me 'The longer we linger, the closer Sasuke gets to the border'

'Okay' I agreed 'Gaara can handle it here'

I turned around quietly and snuck into the trees starting to running through the forest.

'This is a big forest what's the plan?' Emi thought to me.

'The same as before' I thought to her as I started to focus.

'Sadao' I thought trying to reach him.

'Everyone's but Daichi is already back here' He told me 'Choji, Neji, Kiba and Akamaru are already at the village being treated, Shikamaru and the two sand shinobi are back there as well.'

I made the hand seals for the summoning jutsu, the smoke dispersed to show Sadao, Satoshi, Shou, Rei, Kei, Miyuki and Ichiro.

"Rei go back to the clearing behind, Daichi should be flying above it, stay by him healing Lee then Heal Gaara after the battle" I told her she nodded flying away.

"Kei, Miyuki and Ichiro, we shouldn't be that far off from Sasuke and Naruto can you track either of their chakra's from here?" I asked the three doves.

Their ability worked around knowing the said chakra they can teleport to its location but doesn't mean the know where that is, on the other hand they should be able to sense it on somewhat shorter distance, of course the chakra of their summoner followed another rule.

"Huh?!" Miyuki exclaimed as they all seemed alerted.

"Looking for it won't be necessarily" Ichiro told me "They're not that close but they're using their chakra's at a pretty high level we can locate it from here"

"Okay lead us there" I told them as I rode Satoshi, we took into the air following the three doves at a bit of slower than usual pace so they can keep concentrating on trailing the chakra.

'I hope I am there on time' I thought desperately.

"Sara, you should that something feels wrong about both their chakras" Kei told me flying beside "It feels sinister"

'Could it be the nine tails chakra?' I thought 'But then what about Sasuke?'

I remembered what Sakura said about the curse mark changing Sasuke.

We were flying above a river by the side when I saw a small dog running beside a silver headed shinobi.

"Kakashi?!" I wondered looking down "Satoshi, fly us closer to the ground"

We approached the ground till we were flying right above the river beside them.

"So you're following them too?" Kakashi asked me rhetorically.

"They're not far" I told him "But we might need a sealing jutsu in a worst case scenario"

The sky was getting cloudy now as we passed the river and were flying above the trees while Kakashi was running between them.

I suddenly felt it a sudden burst of chakra.

'This feels bad' I thought worriedly.

"It's gone!" Miyuki exclaimed "That sinister feeling"

"Not just that" Kei said "The strong chakra flow stopped"

'So their battle ended' I thought worried

"And Naruto's chakra is getting weaker" Ichiro told me grimly. ""Sasuke's chakra is also moving away"

"We need to pick up the pace" I told them anxiously. "Getting to Naruto is top priority"

'He probably lost the fight he might me badly injured' I thought anxiously.

It started to rain, making it hard to fly and harder for them to track the chakra in it, rain disturbed their abilities.

"You guys go back" I told my summons "I will follow with Kakashi"

I jumped off of Satoshi as they went back, and landed on a tree branch as they disappeared in a puff.

I ran forward running beside Kakashi in the rain.

"The scent might get washed away" Kakashi told me "Can you track them like you were doing?"

"Not at a long distance" I told him "beside the battle ended"

I told him what my summons told me right before the rain.

"So If we lose Sasuke scent by the time the rain stops, it will be too late" He commented to which I nodded.

"No problem" Pakkun said "We're already close enough. This way!"

We jumped out of the trees to a cliff side jumping down till we reached the ground beside an unconscious Naruto.

'No, we're too late' I thought sadly.

I went to Naruto's side and crouched beside him, using my healing jutsu to check on his condition.

"Naruto!" Pakkun exclaimed as he came beside me. "How did it come to this?"

"He's bruised all over, and if he used the nine tails chakra, it probably exhausted him out and hurt him" I commented sadly "We need to take him back to the village"

I then noticed Pakkun smelling a crossed Konoha headband beside Naruto.

"It's Sasuke's" He said as Kakashi stood beside me.

'Sasuke' I thought Sadly.

Kakashi crouched beside me looking at Naruto guiltily.

He put the headband on Naruto and the carried him up, as I stood up too.

We walked up the cliff again with Kakashi carrying Naruto on his back.

"The final valley, huh?" Pakkun wondered "to think that Sasuke and Naruto would battle it out here. It's pretty ironic isn't it?"

"Yeah" Kakashi replied lost in thought.

The rain finally stopped and the clouds dispersed.

"All that rain, I won't be able to follow his scent" Pakkun said as I made the hand seals for summoning jutsu summoning Kei. "but keeping Naruto alive is more important than finding Sasuke"

"Yeah" Kakashi replied again.

"Kei, can you sense Sasuke?" I asked her hopefully as she shook her head.

"No he's too far away" She told me making me sigh.

"You can go back; tell everyone they should rest now." I told her.

We started making our way back midway Naruto woke up.

"Kakashi sensei" He said quietly "Where's Sasuke?"

None of us said anything till a few seconds later, three Konoha medical shinobi showed up.

"Kakashi, Sara" One of them called "What's Naruto Uzumaki's condition?"

"He will pull through" Kakashi commented.

"and Sasuke? Sasuke Uchiha? What about him? What happened?" He asked making Kakashi shake his head while I just stayed quiet.

"How are the other genins I sent back doing?" I asked them

"They're being treated in the hospital" He told me "The emergency treatment you administered probably prevented their death for that time"

"They were all wounded?!" Kakashi wondered looking at me

"Yes" The medic replied instead of me "Shikamaru Nara is doing fine only minor injuries, Kiba Inzuka is more serious but not life threatening"

"However…" another medic started "Neji Hyuga and Choji Akimichi are both in critical condition, at this point they could go either way"

I was clenching my hands hard.

I looked at Naruto to see he was unconscious again.

**Time Skip…**

We were back at the village now, as soon as I arrived we were rushed to get examined, despite the fact I kept telling them I was okay they took me to get examined.

I was sitting on a bed in the hospital.

"You're clear to go" The medic examining me said

"Like I kept telling you!" I told him irritated "How's the other genins?"

"I don't know." He told.

"Fine, I am going to go find out myself" I asked as he sighed and got out of my way.

As soon as I got out of the room standing in front of me was two jounins, both looking irritated, and one medic.

"Yoshio, Hideo sensei! And Manami too!" I said chuckling nervously "When did you guys get back?"

"Why do you always end up in the hospital?" sensei asked irritated.

"I wasn't even injured, they just insisted on making sure" I explained

"Manami already filled us on what happened" Yoshio said sighing "How are you feeling?"

"I am fine, I told you" I said to him.

"I was just informing them" Manami started looking happy but tired "Your friends are going to be alright, Lady Tsunade already managed to stop the effect of the pills with Choji and Neji procedure was a success too, but they're not allowed visits yet, Naruto and Kiba didn't have any life threatening injuries so for now they just need a long rest."

"Thank god!" I cried relieved "one less thing to worry about"

"I can't believe Sasuke would actually go to Orochimaru" Manami wondered "Why would he even do it?"

"Power, probably" Yoshio answered as I agreed with him.

"He wants to get stronger to avenge his clan" I said "Orochimaru probably used that to lure him"

"So what are you going to do?" Sensei asked me

"I didn't manage to see him this time" I said "But when I see him, I am going to knock some sense into him and bring him back"

The three of them smiled.

"You should head home and get some rest" Sensei said "I need to go anyway, there's someone I need to talk to"

"I should go too" Manami excused herself "Got work to do"

Before she left she told me where to find the guys, If I wanted to check on them.

After they both left, I looked at Yoshio seeing that something was clearly bothering him.

"So?" I wondered looking at him.

"So what?" He replied

"What's bothering you?" I asked him

"I was just thinking" He replied looking grim "Sasuke left because he wants revenge on Itachi for killing his clan, but Itachi was someone I never thought would betray his clan, if for one reason was to protect his little brother. I wonder what happened to change him"

I was listened to him quietly, I had thought about this before what changed him and I never found an answer.

"It doesn't matter now" Yoshio said sighing "You should go check on your friends, I will head home and rest before I get another mission"

"Maybe…" I told him "Maybe one day the reasons will become clear"

"Yeah" He said smiling.

**Time skip…**

I headed towards Naruto's room first considering he and Kiba were the only ones allowed visits.

I was at the room's door when I heard Naruto talk.

"I am sorry Sakura" He apologized guiltily. I stayed outside by the door.

"Sorry, what have you got to be sorry about?" She said cheerfully. "Let me guess" She said "you got reckless and went off half coped again huh? Look at you now, you look like a mummy"

"I am so sorry" Naruto apologized again.

"Hey, why do you have your curtains closed?" She said "It's a beautiful day outside, see!"

"I haven't given up, listen!" Naruto pleaded "I am still gonna keep my promise, after all it was a promise of a lifetime, right? I meant it"

"It's okay, Naruto! Really!" She said.

I was standing leaning against the door, looking down sadly.

"He tried Sakura" I heard Shikamaru said.

"If I say I am gonna do it" Naruto said confidently "that means I will, okay! Don't forget, my way of the shinobi means I always stay behind what I say!"

His words managed to make me smile.

'Looks like Naruto is just fine' I thought happily 'I know you're gonna do it!'

I walked away for now, with the intention of visiting him later.


	51. Chapter 49

**Sara Pov**

'What to do now?' I thought sadly as I stared at the sky while sitting on the roof of my house '6 years as a shinobi and I was useless during the fight with Kimimaro. My kekkei genkai is one of the things I rely the most on and now I don't even know how to use it.

I was even struggling to use my chakra, and my jutsu wasn't at its usual power'

'You should get going anyway' Emi told me.

It was three days later since that mission, during the day. Just a day ago did Sakura and Naruto leave on a mission, Choji and Neji were conscious and recovering okay. Even Shikamaru was back to his usual self.

I was wearing my casual outfit as I jumped down, from the roof and waited outside the house door, till Yoshio and Kohana came out ready.

We headed through the village and got flowers on our way to the graveyard. When there Kohana went towards her father's grave while I led Yoshio to our parent's.

"8 years today" He said sadly as we both placed the flowers on each of mom and dad's graves.

"It's so long ago but feels like just yesterday" I said guiltily crouching

"To me it doesn't feel so long ago" He said chuckling "I might have not even known, if it weren't for you" he ruffled my hair making me smile sadly.

'Mom, Dad!' I thought 'I brought him back, but I lost my friend to the same person. So one mission down and another one to replace it.'

The wind blew through the silent graveyard, each of us lost in thought.

'I need to get stronger' I thought 'But I am not even sure how I am gonna do it. But I am not gonna give up! Everyone is going to be working hard, I am not going to be an exception. Also I was promoted to jounin, so I need to work harder than everyone! Just watch over us.'

**Time skip…**

"That's right!" I said remembering "I haven't told you Yoshio! I was promoted to jounin!"

We were walking to Ichiraku to have dinner, when I told him.

"What?!" He looked at me shocked "When did that happen?"

"While you were on your mission" I told him "And don't look so surprised"

He griped me in a hug, while ruffling my hair.

"Oh! My little sister is all grown up and became a jounin" He said cheerfully chuckling.

"Stop it!" I shouted trying to get out of his grip while I could hear Kohana laughing at me.

He finally let go and I adjusted my hair again.

"This calls for a celebration" He said cheerfully.

"No parties!" I said crossing my hands in an x and causing Kohana to pout.

"Why?" She said pouting and giving me the puppy dog face.

"Not gonna work" I told her.

"Let's settle for one with the three of us and uncle Hideo, Ok?" Yoshio intervened between us.

"Fine" Both of us said.

"Okay you two go ahead to Ichiraku and I will go get Uncle" He told us as he ran off.

**Time skip…**

The celebration earlier that night was pretty nice, it got my head off of lots of things. I was resting on our house roof watching the stars.

'I need to get stronger' I thought thinking of earlier tonight with a smile 'To protect my family' My thoughts turned to my friends and all that happened since I joined team 7 'to protect my friends and get that idiot Uchiha back' I thought of what happened eight years ago and what happened in Heiwa 'and to protect my home'

I closed my eyes concentrating till I was inside that white room.

"Emi" I called to her as she stood in front of me "I need your help, Please, teach me to use my Naikai! Please!" I was bowing to her.

She was quiet for a while before answering.

"Fine" I looked up to see she was smiling "But know that I am not going to go easy on you"

"Hai!" I told her we were then taken by surprise by a chuckle.

We looked at the source to find Lady Susumu leaning on her stick and chuckling at us.

"Lady Susumu!" I said shocked "How…? Why are you here?"

"Lots of reasons, one to see little Emi" She answered.

"Little Emi?" I questioned quietly as I looked Emi who looked beyond furious.

"I am not little anymore" She told her causing her to chuckle as Emi looked away flustered.

"Another reason is to tell you something Sara" She told me seriously as I gave her my full attention "I want you to come to Heiwa and stay there for almost three years"

"Three years?!" I looked at her shocked "But I can't, I need to be in the village here in case…"

"Don't worry" She calmed me down "Nothing will happen in those three years that will harm your friends or village including your Uchiha friend"

I was still a bit confused and perplexed.

"Coming to the village will help your friends there" She explained to me "And will help you as well to achieve the goal you have your mind set to"

"Help my friends?" I thought as I remembered that they said they wanted to come to Konoha someday.

'Am I supposed to help them train?' I thought

"Well training in your kekkei genkai will be better there" Emi stated "Being closer to the stone I mean"

I thought hard about it, 'Is it really better to go?' I wondered 'There I won't have sensei or Yoshio to help train me, Can I do it on my own?'

"You're not going to be on your own" Lady Susumu told me "You have one week including travel days to come to Heiwa"

"Is that an order?" I asked her

"We both know what decision you'll end up taking" She said smiling.

**The Next Day…**

"Take it" I told Yoshio pushing my Katana at him while he pushed it back.

"It's yours, I am not taking it" He replied.

"You're better at using the katana than me" I told him pushing it back "And you lost yours back then"

"I will just get one at the store" He retorted.

"It won't be as good as something owned by our family" I replied "I don't use it that much any way it will get rusty if it stays with me"

"What's is this really about?" He asked me crossing his hands "You've been acting weird all morning"

I sighed.

"I am leaving the village" I explained "I am going to Heiwa to train there"

He was startled.

"Why Heiwa?" He asked me.

"You won't believe parts of it if I tell you" I told him

"Try me" He retorted.

'Emi I am telling him about you' I told her

'Fine' She replied.

I told him about Emi and I explained everything that happened last night.

"Well, I don't know what to say" He said chuckling "It's hard to believe. Any way mom always did what Lady Susumu told her to do, so I will trust in that. Still doesn't explain why you want to give up your katana?"

"I told you it's getting rusty with me" I explained "It's true I think it's better in a more capable hand"

"Fine" He gave in and took it from me "I will take good care of it. What are you going to tell Kohana?"

"Still thinking about that, it's a school day thankfully so I have time to prepare" I told him. "I still have lots of things to do so I better get going"

"Okay wait" He went to his room and came back a few minutes later holding one his two sided kunai, it was like the regular Kunai but instead it had two blades, one on each side with the handle in the middle. "I just received them yesterday and I already put the seal on them"

"Thanks" I said taking it "So you're going to work on that jutsu again?"

"Yeah" He told me "But to be on the safe side I will train with it for a bit first"

I smiled looking at the kunai.

**Later…**

"Hey Choji, Shika" I greeted as I entered the hospital room "Doing better Choji?"

He was still thin looking but not as before and was recovering at good rate.

"Never better" He told me cheerfully "I just need a quick visit to Yakiniku Q for some BBQ meat"

"We'll just have to get Asuma to pay for it" Shika said mischievously.

"I pity Asuma" I said chuckling. "Anyway I wanted to talk to the both of you"

"What about, Sara?" Choji wondered while Shika narrowed his eyes.

"It's nothing bad" I said laughing before continuing quietly "I just wanted to say a proper goodbye this time"

"What?" Shikamaru said shocked while Choji frowned.

"I am going to train in Heiwa" I explained to them "For three years"

"But why there?" Shikamaru asked me still looking shocked. "And what about Sasuke? Retrieving him might happen during the three years."

"I have information that Sasuke is going to be okay for those three years" I told him quietly "And training there is better it's a chance for me to learn things I can't learn here"

Shikamaru looked frustrated, while Choji smiled.

"I guess everyone is excited for training after that mission" Choji said smiling "When are you leaving?"

"The day after tomorrow" I told him quietly.

"I guess I can't be out of the hospital by then" He said sadly "Be careful and watch yourself and be sure to eat a lot"

"Well do" I told him "Shikamaru?"

He didn't answer.

"I should get going, Lots of things to take care of" I said with a nervous smile "Bye you two"

Once outside I dropped the smile.

'Of course not everyone would be okay with me leaving' I thought sadly 'But I am still going'

I walked away making my way to Neji's room.

**Time skip…**

That day I visited Neji and ran into Lee, Tenten and Guy in his hospital room, I also Saw Hinata, Shino and Kurenai at one of the training grounds, Kiba and Akamaru were there too but they were only watching since they were still recovering, Shino was pretty upset about the fact that he was the only guy that didn't go on Sasuke's rescue mission. I saw Ino at the flower shop working there and ran into Asuma while walking through the village.

When I told them my plan they accepted it well, although Hinata was a little upset but she said she understood why I wanted to do it, she even encouraged me to do my best and that she will try her best to become stronger too.

It was near noon when I finally found Kakashi and Hideo sensei at the memorial stone.

They noticed me as soon as I stepped into the training ground, it wasn't like I was trying to hide myself.

"I have been looking for the two of you the entire day" I told them frowning "You have been going on missions nonstop lately, you should consider a proper rest"

When I said nonstop I meant it, they just came back this morning from another mission that they left for two days earlier.

"Is that why you were looking for us?" Sensei said chuckling "Who's supposed to be the adult here?"

I could see Kakashi was smiling.

"You can be the adult when you start taking of yourselves properly" I lectured them grinning. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you something. I am leaving for Heiwa the day after tomorrow, I plan to stay there for about three years for training"

"That's pretty sudden" Kakashi said "Why there?"

I told them about Lady Susumu although I left the part about Emi out for now.

"I see" Sensei said "Then I expect to train really hard there, I will test your how your training went when you come back"

"So you're second one to decide on that" Kakashi said making me confused so he explained "Naruto is going to leave with master Jiraya to train for three years when they comeback from their mission"

"I hope they come back before I leave" I said "I won't be seeing them for a while"

"Good luck on your training" Kakashi told me "And be sure to take care of yourself"

I just grinned.

**Time skip…**

"But…" Kohana said sad after I told her my plan "Why? You can just train here like you always had, right? Why do you have to go?"

I was during dinner when I came home and told her. We were in the living room, I crouched to her level putting my hands on her shoulders.

"Kohana" I started gently "I need to train harder so I can protect you and everyone I care about"

"But…" She started "Why do you have to be the one to protect us? You're always leaving on missions and you end up in the hospital a lot, why do you have to?"

"That's the life of a shinobi" I told her "It's not an easy one, but someone have to do it"

"Although from what I heard, Sara does have a knack for going to the hospital more than most shinobis" Yoshio said chuckling.

"Not helping" I told him giving him an annoyed look.

"Just lightning the mood a bit" He said "Kohana, is that how you really feel about Sara being a shinobi?"

"I just don't hate to see her keep getting hurt" She said quietly.

"Then you should understand where she's coming from" He told her as she gave him a puzzled look "The reason she wants to get strong, because she would to see the people she cares about getting hurt, there's lots of reasons people work hard or fight, one of those reasons is to protect the bonds they have. You'll understand it better when you're older though"

I smiled at him before turning to Kohana.

"Look I am not the only that's going to be working hard" I told her "By the time I come back you would have become a genin, so you'll need to work hard to reach that, right?"

"Yeah" She told me still sad, she then hugged me hard "I still don't want you to go"

I hugged her back, before I had thought.

"You know what then, I am going to give you something precious so it will be just like I am here with you" I told her as I broke the hug and took off my choker, she gasped. "You know how important this is" I put it around her neck "Now it's yours"

She touched gently before hugging me crying.

"I am going to take care of it really good! I am gonna miss you so much!" She said while crying as I hugged her back "I am going hard, so I can make you proud!"

"I am okay with just you being happy" I told her ironically I was the one making her cry.

The next day was time to get everything official first I went to my clan's elders to inform them, before making my way to the hokage too and talking to her.

"But why Heiwa?" Lady Tsunade wondered as I told her.

I explained about Lady Susumu, she said she had heard of her before from mom, so convincing her wasn't hard.

"It's approved" She told me "When are you going to leave?"

"Tomorrow" I told her "Lady Tsunade, do you know when Sakura and Naruto are coming back from their mission?"

"They came back this morning" She informed me sighing "Naruto is in the hospital again!"

'Looks like I am not the only one with a knack to end up in the hospital' I thought holding back a chuckle.

"Thanks!" I told her bowing before leaving.

I made my way to the hospital and asked about Naruto's room at the front desk before making my way to it.

"I am coming in" I said as I knocked and went inside Naruto was sitting up in bed with his hands all wrapped up in bandages and Sakura was sitting on chair beside his bed. "Hey, how was your mission?"

"It went great" Naruto said grinning.

"So great I nearly lost your hands?" I asked him with crossed hands as he just laughed nervously, I looked at Sakura she looked lost in thought. "I guess I am lucky that you guys came back so fast though, I have something important to tell you."

"Something important?" Sakura said seeming to snap out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I am going to Heiwa to train for three years there" I informed them

"You're leaving?" Sakura wondered sadly.

"Yeah tomorrow" I told her.

"That's just great" Naruto said grinning "I am leaving with pervy sage too to train for three years too"

"We'll just have to see how strong you get in those three years" I told him "I might fight for the hokage position" I teased him

"Yeah right" He told me "I am going to be the hokage"

I chucked a bit.

"You're going to be training too" Sakura told me as Naruto was saying something about how he's going to starve "Take care ok?"

"You too" I said as Sakura got up and headed for the door.

"Sakura?!" Naruto wondered.

"Sorry, Naruto" She apologized "you may have to wait for me a little bit. But next time, I promise I won't be dead weight"

She finished as she closed the door behind her.

"Looks like the mission really did go great" I said smiling at her determination. "Bye, Naruto"

**Time skip…**

Later that day, I went to the lake I liked to stay at. I had finished packing all I needed after visiting Naruto, I was ready to go tomorrow. But I won't have much of a goodbye committee, Yoshio ended up going on a mission this morning and so did sensei and Kakashi.

Everyone else is going to be having some sort of training, while some were having their own for of recovery like Choji going with Asuma and Ino to Yakiniku Q. I haven't seen Shikamaru since that day though.

'I can't believe I am leaving with things like that' I thought sadly as I sat beside the lake. 'What can I do?'

I narrowed my eyes in thought.

'You know what?! I am just going to go talk to him' I thought determined 'I don't want a repeat of eight years ago'

I summoned Miyuki so she can help me find him, we walked around for a bit till we found him coming out of the hokage building.

I walked up to him with crossed hands, he froze as soon as he saw me.

"Can I know exactly why you're mad at me?" I asked him "I don't really understand, I am not the only one leaving for training and this time I am not just disappearing, so can you explain it to me?"

"Can we talk somewhere private?" He said with a hand on his face as I realized I was shouting at him in front of people, I was probably red in the face like a red light.

"F-fine" I said stuttering.

**Time skip…**

"I am sorry" I apologized, I led him back to the lake "I shouldn't have shouted at you like that"

"I am to blame too" He said "I am sorry, I shouldn't have acted that way back at the hospital, I don't know what over took me back then, you're free to do what you want and as your friend I should have supported you"

"Then we just forget all about it" I said smiling "I am leaving tomorrow; I didn't want to leave with us fighting like that"

"So you're really doing it?" He asked hands in his pocket

"During the Sasuke mission, I realized that despite everything, I still have ways to go" I told him "I can't just sit back and watch, If I am going to become better going to Heiwa for now is my best option"

Shikamaru looked a bit conflicted like he was holding back something.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him, He stayed quiet for a bit before sighing.

"Just take care and don't push yourself too hard" He said smiling before noticing something "You still have it?"

I realized he was talking about the necklace he gave me for my birthday, since I gave the choker to Kohana, I have let this necklace show instead of hiding it under my cloth.

"Of course I do" I told him smiling "I am keeping it forever"

I thought I noticed him blushing but it could have been just my imagination.

**Next Morning…**

I had my back bag on and was wearing my shinobi outfit as I walked to the gates of my clan compound.

It was early in the morning, the sun barely up, I wanted to leave before causing more ruckus.

'It was one hell of a year' I thought thinking of the day I joined team seven and everything that happened till this point. 'Things changed in this year more than it did in the seven years before'

'Things tend to change more, when you decide to start taking action' Emi told me 'Sitting in self-pity wasn't doing you anything, so things were just passing you by'

'I guess' I thought smiling 'And it's going to change even more from now on'

I used the summoning jutsu to summon Sadao.

'That's to be expected' He told me 'It's a god change so far, hopefully it continues like that'

'Not all is going to be good' I thought to him as I smoothed his feather before getting on 'But we'll just have to stand up to the bad and take It on'

'It sure took you a long time to realize that' Emi thought to me.

'It sure did' I thought as Sadao took off, heading into Heiwa's direction.

**THE END**


	52. Sequel is up!

**AN: Sequel is up :D at least the prologue XD**

Time changes everything, as it heals old wounds, it sometimes makes those wounds bleed more. Sara comes back to face trouble brewing inside the village just as the dangerous surrounding it from outside. Also tasked with a new mission, she has to carry the troubles that comes with it. Will she be able to deal with all that? 


End file.
